otljrra’  ffiragura 


Description  of 

Organization  and  Equipment 
and 

Twenty  Lessons 


PUBLISHED  BY 
THE  CHILD  FEDERATION 
PHILADELPHIA 
1919 


NOTE — This  page  proof  edition  was  struck  off  without  waiting 
for  revision  in  order  to  meet  an  immediate  need.  Another 
edition  with  illustrations  and  changes  of  type  will  be  issued 
in  the  near  future 


v 


/ 


iWm 


- 


PRICE  15  CENTS 


Return  this  book  on  or  before  the 
Latest  Date  stamped  below. 


University  of  Illinois  Library 


L161 — H41 


A LITTLE  MOTHERS’  LEAGUE 

Little  Mothers’  League  is  a term  used  to  define  a group 
of  girls,  usually  from  eight  to  fourteen  years  of  age,  who 
are  brought  together  to  receive  instruction  in  the  care  of 
babies.  Upon  many  little  girls  falls  the  responsibility  of 
regularly  or  occasionally  assuming  charge  of  their  baby 
brothers  and  sisters.  In  fact,  a large  part  of  the  care 
received  by  babies,  both  in  the  city  and  in  the  country,  is 
given  in  this  way.  Of  84,473  girls  enrolled  in  the  Philadel- 
phia public  schools  in  1914,  5,181  were  wholly  or  in  large 
part  responsible  for  the  care  of  one  or  more  babies  at  home, 
while  15,507  girls  had  at  least  partial  care  of  a baby. 

The  most  effective  way  of  keeping  babies  well  is  to  teach 
their  mothers  how  to  care  for  them  intelligently.  This  has 
proven  a difficult  task,  since  so  many  mothers  amongst  the 
poor  are  working  or  do  not  speak  English,  or  are  hopelessly 
fixed  in  their  ignorance  of  the  proper  Way  of  caring  for 
their  babies.  For  these  reasons  several  cities  have  under- 
taken systematic  instruction  of  “little  mothers’’  in  the  funda- 
mentals of  baby-caring.  Experience  has  shown  that  this 
teaching  has  not  only  enabled  the  “little  mother’’  to  do  her 
work  more  intelligently,  and  therefore  with  more  interest, 
but  it  has  made  of  her  the  most  effective  instructor  of  the 
actual  mother  that  has  been  developed  up  to  the  present 
time.  The  child,  with  her  superior  intellectual  training,  is 
becoming  a very  potent  factor  in  the  enlightenment  of  the 
poor,  especially  in  the  foreign  population. 

Another,  perhaps  the  most  important,  effect  of  the  Little 
Mothers’  League  is  the  intelligent  preparation  that  it  gives 
the  child  for  the  care  of  her  own  baby  when  she  becomes  a 
real  mother. 

In  this  country,  the  idea  of  Little  Mothers’  League  was 
first  suggested  by  the  Bureau  of  Child  Hygiene  of  New  York 


City,  Department  of  Health,  and  first  put  into  practice  in 
New  York  City,  where  classes  have  been  conducted  during 
the  summer  months  by  the  city  department  of  health  in 
health  centres,  playgrounds  and  recreation  piers. 

In  Philadelphia  the  Child  Federation,  a private  organiza- 
tion, has  conducted  leagues  for  five  years  in  public  ele- 
mentary schools,  parochial  schools  and  social  settlements. 
This  work  proved  so  illuminating  to  the  Philadelphia  school 
authorities  that  at  the  end  of  the  first  year,  in  the  fall  of 
1914,  the  Board  of  Education  included  instruction  in  the 
care  of  infants  as  part  of  the  domestic  science  course  for 
all  girls  in  the  seventh  and  eighth  grades.  In  order  that 
they  might  qualify  for  the  service,  all  domestic  science 
teachers  were  given  a special  preparatory  course  in  baby 
care  by  members  of  the  Medical  Council  of  the  Federation. 

The  necessary  equipment  for  Little  Mothers*  League 
classes  has  been  standardized  by  householders,  and  lessons 
for  use  by  volunteer  or  regular  teachers  have  been  pre- 
pared in  simple  form  by  Dr.  Samuel  McClintock  Hamill 
and  Dr.  Howard  Childs  Carpenter,  of  Philadelphia. 

It  was  not  the  intention  of  the  Child  Federation  to  print 
these  lessons,  but  there  has  been  such  a determined  demand 
that  they  be  issued  in  the  simple  form  in  which  the  Federa- 
tion has  used  them  that  the  request  is  gladly  complied  with, 
in  the  hope  that  they  may  be  as  effective  in  other  cities  in 
stimulating  public  interest  in  the  “little  mother’*  and  her 
charge  as  they  have  been  in  Philadelphia. 

The  natural  educating  medium  is  the  public  school,  and 
we  believe  it  should  be  a part  of  the  duty  of  every  school 
to  train  the  “little  mother*’  so  that  she  may  care  for  her  baby 
brothers  and  sisters  more  intelligently  and  incidentally  pre- 
pare herself  for  the  responsibilities  which  she  must  ultimate- 
ly assume  in  respect  to  her  own  child. 


HOW  TO  ORGANIZE  AND  CONDUCT  LITTLE 
MOTHERS’  LEAGUES 

When  organizing  leagues  try  to  secure  the  co-operation 
of  the  following  individuals  and  organizations  in  your  com- 
munity in  obtaining  teachers  and  equipment: 

Physicians 

Visiting  nurses 

School  nurses 

Boards  of  health 

Hospitals  and  nurses’  homes 

Boards  of  education 

Superintendents  of  schools 

School  principals,  teachers 

Teachers’  training  schools 

Women’s  clubs 

Parents’  associations 

Mothers’  clubs 

Churches 

Newspapers 

Since  the  public  schools  offer  the  best  opportunities  for 
the  creation  of  league  classes,  endeavor  to  make  your  be- 
ginning in  the  schools.  To  this  end,  secure  the  assistance 
and  endorsement  of  the  Superintendent  of  Schools  and  his 
principals  and  teachers.  It  is  through  them  that  the  neces- 
sary rooms,  available  hours  and  proper  selection  of  pupils 
can  be  obtained.  Aside  from  this,  the  teaching  of  the 
league  classes  should  ultimately  become  the  work  of  the 
school. 

Select  for  the  classes  girls,  preferably  between  the  ages  of 
ten  and  sixteen,  who  actually  have  some  care  of  a baby  at 
home.  The  age  limit  may  vary  either  way,  but  it  is  desir- 
able to  group  as  nearly  as  possible  girls  of  the  same  age 
and  school  grade.  The  number  of  girls  in  a league  may 
vary  from  two  to  forty  or  more.  The  smaller  classes  are 
preferable.  The  meetings  should  be  an  hour  in  length,  and 
should  be  held  once  each  week  in  the  school  building,  at  a 

3 


/ 


time  convenient  to  the  principal  of  the  school,  which  is 
often  at  the  close  of  the  afternoon  session. 

Each  league  should  have  its  own  regular  teacher,  who 
should  be  responsible  for  her  own  class  and  provide  a satis- 
factory substitute  when  she  cannot  be  present. 

It  is  very  important  to  secure  the  active  interest  of  physi- 
cians, particularly  specialists  in  the  care  of  infants  and 
children.  A group  of  co-operating  physicians  can  add 
greatly  to  the  success  of  the  leagues  by: 

1 . Preparing  outlines  for  the  teachers  to  fit  local  needs 
and  problems. 

2.  Consulting  with  teachers  about  the  details  of  les- 
sons, answering  their  questions,  etc. 

3.  Supervising  the  work  of  teachers  and  by  studying 
their  results  with  the  children. 

If  there  are  more  than  three  or  four  classes,  it  is  desir- 
able to  have  a regular  supervising  teacher,  who  will  check 
up  the  attendance  of  the  children,  the  condition  of  the 
equipment  and  the  regularity  of  teachers,  etc. 

The  success  and  usefulness  of  a Little  Mothers’  League 
depends  entirely  upon  the  ability  of  the  teacher  to  keep  the 
girls  interested.  The  following  suggestions  have  been  found 
valuable  for  teachers  at  their  first  meeting: 

1 . To  explain  to  the  girls  what  is  to  be  done  with  the 
doll  and  equipment. 

2.  To  ask  them  to  tell  the  class  about  their  babies  at 
home,  giving  names,  ages  and  weight. 

3.  To  put  off  taking  the  roll  of  the  class  until  the 
second  or  third  meeting. 

4.  To  take  a vote  as  to  what  the  doll’s  name  shall  be. 

5.  To  give  each  girl  a chance  to  hold  the  doll. 

6.  To  avoid  too  many  “don’ts”  at  first,  emphasizing 
the“dos.” 

7.  To  assign  to  each  girl  some  special  duties,  so  that 
tasks  will  not  be  monopolized  by  the  girls  with  extra 
initiative. 


4 


8.  As  soon  as  possible  to  make  a friend  of  each  girl, 

learning  something  about  her  home  and  baby. 

If  interest  lags  in  the  middle  of  the  course,  try  to  revive 
it  by  a question  bee,  an  experience  meeting  or  an  original 
‘‘don’t”  contest,  based  on  what  pupils  may  have  seen  at 
home  or  on  the  street. 

Badges  and  certificates  seem  to  help  make  children  real- 
ize the  importance  of  the  leagues.  Every  girl  who  joins  a 
class  should  sign  a pledge  and  receive  a certificate  which 
shows  she  is  an  active  member.  After  she  has  attended 
four  meetings  and  has  proved  to  the  teacher  her  sincere 
interest  in  the  work  of  the  class,  she  should  be  given  a 
badge  or  ribbon  to  wear.  Similar  cards  and  badges  to 
those  used  in  Philadelphia  can  be  secured  at  small  cost. 

Each  league  should  elect  its  own  president,  vice-president 
and  secretary,  with  the  usual  duties  and  special  badges 
denoting  their  offices. 

Mothers  should  be  invited  to  attend  the  classes,  and  a 
special  day  should  be  set  aside  for  visitors.  Bathing  the 
baby,  making  its  bed  and  dressing  it  make  an  inter- 
esting lesson.  A baby  welfare  clinic,  with  a trained  nurse 
or  physician  in  charge,  is  an  excellent  sequel  of  Little 
Mothers’  Leagues. 

Newspaper  publicity  will  help  to  arouse  general  interest 
in  the  organization  and  work  of  the  leagues,  and  will  help 
to  spread  their  teaching. 

EQUIPMENT 

In  purchasing  outfits  make  every  effort  to  combine  econ- 
omy with  durability,  so  as  to  impress  upon  the  children  the 
false  economy  of  buying  things  for  cheapness  alone. 

A complete  outfit  for  teaching  a Little  Mothers’  League 
consists  of  the  following  articles,  which  can  be  bought  for 
$20.81:* 

Large  doll:  life-size;  as  nearly  as  possible  the  shape  of  a 
normal  baby;  stockinette  doll  costs  $5.25. 

Sleeping  basket:  32  inches  long,  20  inches  wide,  1 1 

*Based  on  1916  purchase  prices. 


5 


inches  deep;  woven  of  strong  wooden  strips  about  an  inch 
wide;  well  bound  around  the  top;  $1.05. 

Mattress:  6 to  8 thicknesses  of  white  quilted  padding 
basted  together  to  fit  the  bottom  of  the  basket;  easily  taken 
apart  for  frequent  washing;  $2.10. 

Oilcloth:  ordinary  white  table  oilcloth;  30  by  24  inches; 
$.13;  a good  substitute  for  rubber  sheeting  and  decidedly 
more  economical. 

Three  sheets:  40  inches  long,  28  inches  wide;  made  of 
cheap  muslin;  $.60;  used  for  top  and  bottom  sheet  and 
spread.  Small  pillow-case  to  cover  the  mattress;  $.22. 

Blankets:  one  pair;  two-thirds  wool,  one-third  cotton; 
smallest  crib  size;  $2.00. 

Bathtub:  medium  size  (26  by  13  inches  at  top  and  10 
inches  deep)  ; enamled;  $1.50. 

Bath  thermometer:  $.25. 

Soap:  plain  castile  or  ivory;  $.08. 

Wash  cloth:  piece  of  cheesecloth;  $.01. 

Towels:  two;  soft  old  linen  may  be  used. 

Scales:  strong  spring  balance;  $.60. 

Covered  bucket:  for  soiled  diapers;  heavy  galvanized 
tin;  10  inches  in  diameter,  9 inches  deep;  $.35. 

Flyswatter:  flexible;  wire;  $.10. 

Combination  cloak  and  hood:  single-faced  eiderdown; 
any  color;  $.50;  hood  attached  at  back  and  well  around  to 
the  sides,  so  no  wind  gets  in  at  the  baby’s  neck;  wide 
enough  to  be  double  breasted  when  fastened  down  one  side 
of  the  front;  flap  at  the  bottom,  one-third  of  the  coat’s 
width,  to  turn  up  over  the  feet. 

Mittens:  knitted;  first  size;  $.25. 

Binder:  wool  and  cotton;  with  shoulder  straps;  second 
size;  $.25. 

Undershirt:  wool  and  cotton;  open  down  entire  front; 
size  for  six  months  old  baby;  $.40. 

Diaper:  birdseye  cotton;  20  by  40  inches;  $.10;  canton 
flannel  is  too  thick,  and  becomes  harsh  and  stiff  unless 
washed  very  carefully. 


6 


Petticoat:  flannel;  27  inches  long;  in  “Gertrude”  style 
or  with  muslin  waist  with  armholes,  hanging  from  the  shoul- 
ders; $.50. 

Dress:  plain;  long;  muslin;  $.25. 

Stockings:  long;  wool  and  cotton;  $.25. 

Socks:  short;  knitted;  $.15. 

Shoes:  soft  brown  kid;  broad  at  the  toes,  conforming  to 
the  shape  of  a baby’s  foot;  $.50. 

Night  slip:  shaker  flannel;  drawstring  at  the  bottom; 

$.50. 

Bib:  plain  quilted;  $.20. 

Safety  pins:  one  dozen  each,  No.  1 and  No.  3;  $.06. 

Kettle:  large  enough  to  boil  bottles  and  utensils  used  in 
making  the  milk  mixture;  agateware  of  good  quality;  8 
quarts;  $1.05. 

Nursing  bottles:  standard  make,  accurately  marked  in 
ounces  and  half  ounces;  preferably  round  bottles,  with  firm 
base  and  wide  neck;  eight  bottles  for  $.23. 

Nipples:  black  rubber;  easily  turned  inside  out  for  clean- 
ing; eight  for  $.15. 

Funnel:  white  agate  or  aluminum;  four  ounce;  end  small 
enough  to  fit  the  neck  of  bottles,  but  large  enough  to  per- 
mit free  flow1;  $.20;  glass  funnels  will  break,  and  tin  will 
rust  and  wear  out  more  quickly. 

Pitcher:  agate;  two  quart;  to  mix  milk;  $.80. 

Tablespoon,  for  stirring  mixture;  Fork,  for  removing  top 
of  milk  bottles,  or  one  of  the  devices  made  for  this  purpose, 
the  bottle;  $.10. 

Bottle  brush:  handle  long  enough  to  reach  all  parts  of 
the  bottle;  $.08. 

Mason  jars:  pint  size;  one  for  sugar,  one  for  holding 
clean  nipples;  two  jars  for  $.10. 

Stoppers:  cork,  for  bottles;  No.  5 size;  eight  for  $.03. 

If  funds  are  not  available  for  buying  the  necessary  equip- 
ment, utensils  and  clothing  may  be  borrowed  for  the  course. 
The  girls  themselves  can  help  make  the  baby’s  garments. 


7 


TWENTY  LESSONS 
Introductory  Statement 

When  a tree  first  shoots  up  into  the  world  it  is  so  small 
and  delicate  that  it  could  be  crushed  and  killed  if  even  a 
little  child  should  step  upon  it.  When  the  tree  has  grown 
a little  older,  a child  in  passing  may  break  or  bend  it.  It 
might  not  die,  but  it  would  be  scarred  and  bent  for  all  the 
rest  of  its  life.  In  one  case  the  life  of  the  tree  would  have 
been  thoughtlessly  destroyed;  in  the  other  it  would  have 
been  crippled  for  life.  In  either  case  the  tree  would  have 
been  given  no  chance  to  grow. 

A tiny  little  baby  is  just  like  the  tiny  little  tree.  He  is 
so  helpless,  weak  and  delicate  that  the  slightest  fall  or  bump 
or  carelessness  in  handling  may  kill  or  cripple  him  for  life. 
He  must  have  some  one  to  love  and  care  for  him,  and  that 
person  must  be  very  gentle,  brave  and  watchful  and  know 
exactly  what  to  do  for  the  baby  at  all  times. 

It  is  these  things  that  “little  mothers”  need  very  much  to 
learn.  Most  of  the  little  babies  who  die,  die  because  their 
grown-up  mothers  have  not  learned  how  to  care  for  them. 
Doctors  and  nurses  have  been  working  for  years  to  find 
out  just  what  is  best  for  little  babies,  and  it  is  these  things 
that  we  want  to  tell  you  so  that  you  may  know  what  to  do 
for  your  little  baby  brothers  and  sisters  to  keep  them  well, 
and  so  that  you  can  tell  mothers  who  have  no  little  girls, 
and  help  them  care  for  their  babies.  If  you  will  listen  care- 
fully and  learn  your  lesson  well,  you  will  probably  have 
many  chances  in  your  lives  to  save  little  babies  from  sick- 
ness and  death.  Think  what  it  will  mean  to  your  city  if 
we  can  get  all  the  girls  working  tQ  save  little  babies. 

a 


Lesson  1 

HYGIENE  OF  THE  HOME 

The  doctors  tell  us  that  the  only  way  to  keep  a baby 
perfect  in  health  is  to  give  him  fresh  air  and  sunshine  and 
to  see  to  it  that  the  baby,  his  clothes,  bed-clothes,  home  and 
everything  in  it  are  kept  perfectly  clean.  Remember,  this 
applies  to  everything  he  touches  with  his  mouth  or  fingers, 
the  cup  he  drinks  from,  the  bottles  and  nipples  he  uses — 
if  he  is  a bottle-fed  baby — his  toys,  etc.  Especially  should 
no  baby  be  allowed  to  drink  from  a cup  or  glass  that  has 
been  used  by  another  person,  without  first  washing  and 
scalding  it  with  hot  water.  All  these  things  take  time,  but 
it  is  time  well  spent,  as  it  helps  you  to  keep  your  little  baby 
brothers  and  sisters  well. 

When  the  bed  room  or  rooms,  as  the  case  may  be,  are 
vacated  in  the  morning,  shake  out  all  the  bed  covers, 
blankets,  comforts,  mattresses,  pillows,  etc.,  from  each  bed, 
and  open  the  window  for  a thorough  airing.  Then  after 
breakfast  go  back  and  make  up  the  beds  very  smoothly — 
cover  them  thoroughly  with  an  extra  sheet  or  large  cloth 
and,  leaving  the  windows  open,  sweep  and  clean  the  room, 
not  forgetting  to  go  under  the  beds  and  bureaus. 

If  there  is  a carpet  on  the  floor,  it  should  not  extend 
quite  to  the  wall,  but  should  stop  about  a foot  away  from 
it  and  it  should  not  be  tacked  down.  That  is,  the  carpet 
should  be  made  in  the  form  of  a rug,  and  such  rug  should 
be  taken  up,  once  or  twice  a week,  and  beaten  out  of 
doors.  The  carpet  and  bare  floor  should  be  gone  over 
with  a broom,  over  which  has  been  tied  a damp  cloth.  Once 
a week  take  a scrubbing  brush,  a bucket  of  hot  Water  and 
soap  and  scrub  the  floor  and  the  mouldings  around  the 
walls. 

Then,  too,  the  walls  of  the  room  should  be  cleaned.  They 
should  be  wiped  down  with  a damp  cloth,  and  for  this 
reason  painted  walls  are  much  better  than  papered  walls. 
In  most  homes  Saturday  would  be  a good  day  for  this 

9 


cleaning.  A feather  duster  should  not  be  used  in  the 
home,  as  all  it  does  is  to  whisk  the  dust  from  one  object 
to  another.  The  dust  should  be  wiped  up  with  a damp 
cloth  and  shaken  out  of  doors.  The  use  of  a little  white 
paint  makes  a wonderful  improvement  in  a room.  If,  for 
instance,  the  enamel  has  become  chipped  off  the  baby’s  bed, 
you  could  repaint  the  bed  yourself,  after  obtaining  your 
mother’s  permission. 

A growing  plant  in  the  bed  room,  like  a geranium,  is 
very  pretty,  and  it  is  a healthy  thing  to  have  in  the  house. 

A good  way  to  clean  carpets  that  cannot  be  taken  out- 
side is  to  spread  wet  tea  leaves  that  have  been  used,  over 
them  and  leave  them  there  while  you  are  wiping  the  floor 
and  dusting  the  home  generally,  and  then  brush  the  leaves 
up.  The  outside  leaves  of  cabbage  can  be  used  for  the 
same,  purpose,  as  can  also  wet  newspapers  torn  into  small 
pieces.  The  windows  should  be  kept  clean  and  the  window 
in  the  room  in  which  the  baby  sleeps  should  have  iron  or 
wooden  bars  to  keep  him  from  falling  out.  A gate  at  the 
door  of  the  room  is  a good  thing  to  have  if  the  baby  is  old 
enough  to  walk,  so  that  he  cannot  reach  the  stairs  and  fall 
down. 

The  bed  clothes  on  all  the  beds  must  be  clean.  Comforts 
and  blankets  should  be  washed  often.  A dirty  comforter 
or  blanket  will  often  cause  illness  for  some  one  in  the  house. 

The  kitchen  should  also  be  kept  clean  and  thoroughly 
aired  every  day.  A good  time  for  this  is  while  the  baby  is 
taking  his  morning  nap  in  his  crib  in  the  bed  room.  In  the 
kitchen,  no  pots  or  pans  or  dirty  dishes  should  be  left 
around  after  meals.  Be  sure  to  scrub  them  clean,  with 
plenty  of  soap  and  hot  water,  as  soon  as  the  meal  is  over, 
and  put  them  away  out  of  the  baby’s  reach.  He  might  get 
hold  of  a knife  and  put  it  in  his  eyes  or  injure  himself 
seriously  in  some  other  w'ay.  Above  all,  never  leave  any 
scraps  of  food  around,  but  put  them  outside  in  a covered 
can  for  the  garbage  man  to  empty.  The  garbage  can  must 
always  be  covered,  as  serious  illness  is  often  due  to  the  flie* 


io 


which  grow  in  the  garbage  can.  If  the  can  is  left  uncov- 
ered the  garbage  and  decaying  material  is  scattered  around 
on  the  ground  near  the  can  and  attracts  the  flies. 

Dirty  street  gutters  aud  alley  ways,  and  dirty,  damp,  un- 
drained cellars  are  causes  of  a great  deal  of  sickness  among 
babies.  Remember,  it  is  not  healthy  to  live  near  open 
manure  pits,  cow  stables,  slaughter  houses,  pig  pens,  dump 
heaps,  pools  of  dirty  water,  swamps,  open  privies,  street  curb 
and  sidewalk  markets,  or  near  anything  that  causes  bad 
odors  around  the  house.  Never  allow  any  one  to  spit  on 
the  floor  of  your  home.  Many  of  the  poor  little  babies  who 
have  tuberculosis,  that  is,  consumption,  have  gotten  it  be- 
cause some  one  who  had  germs  of  this  disease  in  their 
mouths  were  careless  enough  to  spit  on  the  floor.  When 
this  spit  becomes  dry,  the  germs  fly  around  in  the  dust  of 
the  room,  and  the  baby  catches  this  dreadful  disease.  If 
the  roof  of  the  house  leaks,  or  the  cellar  gets  full  of  water, 
or  the  water  does  not  ran  freely  in  the  toilet,  ask  your  land- 
lord to  have  it  fixed,  and  if  he  does  not  do  so  promptly, 
write  a post  card  complaining  about  it  to  the  Bureau  of 
Healith,  City  Hall,  in  your  city. 

“Little  mothers”  can  do  a great  deal  to  help  keep  their 
houses  clean.  They  should  make  it  their  business  especially 
to  see  that  the  cellar  is  kept  clean  and  dry,  and  never  to 
put  anything  dirty  in  the  cellar.  Finally,  remember  always 
to  wash  your  hands  after  changing  the  baby,  and  always 
before  feeding  or  bathing  the  baby. 

Lesson  2 

LIGHTING  AND  HEATING 

The  baby  should  live  in  a room  in  which  there  is  sun- 
shine. Many  people  keep  the  poor  little  baby  in  a dark 
room,  shutting  out  all  sunlight.  A baby  can  no  more  live 
and  thrive  without  sunshine  than  a plant  can.  Then,  too, 
sunlight  is  the  thing  that  destroys  the  germs  which  make 
babies  sick. 


n 


If  the  baby  is  kept  in  a dark  room  he  grows  pale  and 
loses  his  red  cheeks.  It  is  sometimes  necessary,  however, 
to  darken  the  room  during  the  day  when  the  baby  takes 
a nap,  but  at  other  times  the  sunlight  should  be  allowed  to 
stream  in.  In  the  summer  time,  when  it  is  hot,  an  awning 
or  some  sort  of  shade  or  screen  of  dark  material  should  be 
put  outside  the  window,  to  keep  the  room  as  cool  as  pos- 
sible. 

“Little  mothers”  must  remember  that  the  baby’s  eyes  are 
very  tender  and  easily  injured.  Therefore,  you  must  always 
see  that  the  sun  is  not  allowed  to  shine  directly  in  the  baby’s 
eyes.  This  is  equally  true  both  in  the  house  and  out  of 
doors.  If  the  sun  shines  in  the  baby’s  eyes  while  he  is  in 
bed,  a good  “little  mother”  will  put  up  a screen  of  some 
kind  to  protect  the  baby’s  eyes  from  the  light.  She  will 
also  turn  him  in  the  bed  so  that  he  does  not  face  the  sun- 
light. When  the  baby  is  out  of  doors  in  his  coach  it  is 
most  important  to  shade  the  baby’s  eyes  from  the  sunshine. 
An  awning  made  of  dark  material  or  an  umbrella  may  be 
used  for  this  purpose.  It  is  best  for  the  baby’s  eyes  that  he 
should  not  have  to  look  at  things  that  are  too  small  or 
too  near  to  him,  and  his  toys  must  be  large  so  that  he  can 
see  them  from  some  distance  away.  For  this  reason  the 
baby  is  better  out  of  doors,  because  the  things  he  looks 
at  are  some  distance  away,  and  not  too  close  at  hand. 

The  best  room  for  the  baby  is  one  in  which  the  windows 
face  the  south,  as  this  room  will  have  the  most  sunlight. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  poorest  room  for  a baby  is  one  in 
which  the  windows  all  face  the  north,  as  there  will  be  no 
sunshine  in  this  room.  Window  shades  of  a dark  color  are 
the  best  when  it  is  necessary  to  keep  the  sunshine  out  of 
the.  room.  The  gas  should  never  be  allowed  to  burn  all 
night  in  the  room.  If,  in  the  case  of  sickness,  it  should 
be  necessary  to  have  a light  all  night,  a candle,  carefully 
protected  so  that  the  candle  cannot  be  knocked  over,  is  the 
best.  But  be  sure  to  train  the  baby  to  sleep  without  a light 
in  the  room.  While  we  are  speaking  of  lights,  we  may  also 


12 


mention  the  danger  of  fire.  Remember  never  to  have  any 
kind  of  matches  in  your  houses,  except  safety  matches. 
Many  little  babies  have  been  burned  to  death  by  the  care- 
lessness of  some  one  leaving,  within  the  reach  of  the  baby, 
the  kind  of  matches  that  strike  anywhere. 

How  shall  the  room  in  which  the  baby  is  kept  be  heated? 
There  are  several  different  ways  of  heating  a room.  The 
simplest,  best  and  cheapest  way  is  by  allowing  the,  sun  to 
shine  in  the  room.  But  when  it  is  cold  out  of  doors  this 
is  not  enough,  and  we  will  have  to  use  some  other  means 
in  addition.  One  of  the  best  methods  of  heating  a room 
is  by  means  of  an  open  fireplace,  in  which  either  wood  or 
coal  is  burned.  An  open  fireplace  is  excellent  because  it 
not  only  heats,  but  ventilates  the  room.  However,  it  has 
the  disadvantage  of  wasting  a great  deal  of  heat,  which 
instead  of  going  into  the  room  goes  up  the  chimney,  and  it 
is  dangerous  because  the  baby  may  walk  or  fall  into  the 
fire,  unless  the  fireplace  is  protected  by  a strong  fender. 
It  is  well  to  know  that  a fireplace  is  a good  thing  to  have 
in  a room,  even  if  there  is  no  fire  in  it,  as  it  allows  the 
impure  air  to  escape;  in  other  words,  it  ventilates  the  room. 

Another  way  of  heating  the  room  is  by  use  of  what  is 
known  as  a Franklin  stove.  This  is  an  open  stove  somewhat 
like  a fireplace  and  helps  to  ventilate  as  well  as  heat  the 
room.  Other  stoves,  sometimes  called  air-tight  or  box 
stoves,  give  out  a great  deal  of  heat,  but  do  not  help  much 
in  ventilating.  Many  houses  have  furnaces  in  the  cellar. 
These  furnaces  heat  the  house  by  sending  hot  air  through 
pipes  to  the  different  rooms.  This  is  a satisfactory  method, 
as  it  brings  in  fresh  air  from  out  of  doors,  and  after  heat- 
ing it  sends  it  to  the  rooms.  However,  when  a furnace  is 
used  there  is  danger  of  coal  gas.  If  a “little  mother**  de- 
tects the  smell  of  coal  gas,  she  should  at  once  open  the 
window  in  the  room  in  order  to  let  out  the  coal  gas  and 
let  in  the  fresh  air.  She  must  turn  off  the  register,  and 
run  and  tell  her  mother,  as  many  babies  have  been  smother- 
ed by  coal  gas.  If  there  is  a furnace  in  your  house,  keep 

13 


the  little  water  tank  on  the  furnace  filled  with  water,  as 
this  will  keep  the  air  from  being  too  dry.  Another  method 
of  preventing  this  dryness  of  the  air  is  to  place  a dish 
filled  with  water  or  a wet  sponge,  in  front  of  or  on  the 
register. 

Gas  stoves  are  not  as  good  as  a coal  stove  or  furnace, 
as  they  eat  up  the  fresh  air  more  rapidly  than  either  of 
the  others.  If  a gas  stove  must  be  used  it  should  have  a 
smoke  pipe  connected  with  the  chimney  to  carry  off  what 
are  known  as  the  products  of  combustion;  in  other  words, 
the  impurities  coming  from  the  burning  gas.  You  may 
tight  a gas  stove  for  a short  time  to  warm  up  the  room 
while  you  are  bathing  the  baby,  but  as  soon  as  he  is 
dressed,  the  gas  should  be  turned  out.  A bad  way  of  heat- 
ing the  room  is  by  means  of  an  oil  stove,  as  it  makes  the 
air  in  the  room  impure  and  takes  as  much  oxygen  out  of 
the  air  as  five  or  six  persons  would  use  in  breathing. 

The  most  common  mistake  made  is  in  keeping  the  baby’s 
room  too  hot.  It  is  bad  for  a baby  to  be  kept  in  too  warm 
a room.  A baby  kept  for  some  time  in  an  overheated  room 
becomes  weak  and  pale.  He  catches  cold  very  easily  and 
loses  his  appetite. 

How  may  a person  tell  whether  the  baby’s  room  is  warm 
enough  or  too  warm?  The  right  way  is  by  means  of  a 
thermometer.  Every  home  should  have  a thermometer. 

(Demonstrate  the  thermometer  and  how  to  use  it.) 

The  right  temperature  for  the  baby’s  room  is  between  66 
and  68  degrees,  and  it  is  important  to  remember  that  the 
temperature  should  not  be  allowed  to  go  higher  than  70. 
The  thermometer  should  be  hung  on  the  wall,  not  on  an 
outside  wall,  which  will  be  too  cold,  but  on  the  inside  wall 
between  two  rooms.  It  should  be  hung  about  three  feet 
from  the  floor,  because  the  air  in  the  lower  part  of  the 
room  is  cooler  than  the  air  in  the  upper  part  of  the  room, 
and  as  the  little  baby  lives  low  down  in  the  room,  the 
thermometer  should  be  placed  low  down.  Do  not  put  the 
thermometer  too  close  to  the  fire,  or  too  close  to  the  window. 


14 


Lesson  3 

FRESH  AIR 

It  is  time  for  you  now  to  learn  something  about  fresh 
air.  Perhaps  you  all  Wonder  what  there  is  to  be  known 
about  fresh  air  that  can  help  you  in  the  care  of  the  babies 
in  your  homes,  so  please  give  very  close  attention  that  you 
may  find  out  what  they  are.  The  health  of  yourself  and 
all  of  your  family,  including  the  baby,  will  be  greatly  helped 
if  you  use  fresh  air  in  the  way  you  are  told. 

How  many  of  you  know  that  there  are  many  schools 
called  “Fresh  Air”  or  “Open  Air  Schools,”  in  different  parts 
of  the  world?  These  schools  are  being  run  to  show  that 
little  girls  and  boys  who  study  their  lessons  in  the  open  air 
will  learn  them  more  easily  and  will  be  healthier  than  the 
children  who  go  to  the  indoor  schools.  Does  it  make  you 
shiver  to  think  of  sitting  out  in  the  open  air  and  learning 
your  lessons  on  a cold  day?  The  boys  and  girls  who  go 
to  these  schools  don’t  feel  shivery.  They  are  so  bundled 
up  in  heavy  coats  and  hoods  and  mittens,  that  they  hardly 
know  winter  from  summer,  and  they  feel  so  well  and  full 
of  life  they  want  to  stay  out  doors  all  the.  time.  Not  such 
a great  while  ago  we  thought  that  fresh  air  was  a very 
bad  thing  for  people  who  were  sick,  and  that  it  was  very, 
very  wrong  to  let  fresh  air  get  at  people  who  had  trouble 
with  their  lungs.  So  we  used  to  shut  all  the  windows  when 
people  were  sick,  because  we  thought  they  would  get  well 
faster.  But  a wise  doctor  came  along  one  day  and  opened 
the  windows  in  the  room  of  a patient  who  was  sick  with 
consumption.  He  kept  the  windows  open  night  and  day, 
and  he  put  the  patient  near  the  windows  where  the  fresh 
air  could  blow  over  him.  To  everybody’s  surprise,  that 
patient  got  well,  while  most  of  the  people  with  consumption 
who  were  shut  up  indoors  were  dying.  After  he  had  cured 
many  people  by  keeping  the  windows  open,  other  doctors 
began  to  try  the  fresh-air  cure,  and  it  was  not  long  until 
all  doctors  were  using  it.  It  was  soon  found  that  fresh 


15 


air  was  so  much  better  than  all  the  medicine  in  the  world 
for  the  cure  of  consumption,  that  the  doctors  began  to 
use  it  in  the  treatment  of  all  kinds  of  diseases.  Today  it 
is  a very  common  thing  to  go  into  a hospital  ward  and 
find  all  the  windows  open  in  all  kinds  of  weather. 

After  a while  the  doctors  began  to  think  that  if  fresh 
air  made  sick  people  well,  it  ought  to  keep  well  people  well, 
and  as  that  was  much  more  important  than  making  sick 
people  well,  they  began  to  tell  every  one  that  if  they  wanted 
to  keep  well,  one  of  the  ways  to  do  it  was  to  have  their 
windows  open  at  night,  and  to  live  out-of-doors  as  much  as 
possible  during  the  day.  It  did  not  take  long  for  the  peo- 
ple who  did  this  to  find  out  that  they  were  much  healthier 
than  those  who  were  afraid  of  fresh  air. 

So  we  know  today  that  fresh  air  is  a good  thing  for 
everybody,  even  for  little  babies.  What  we  want  to  teach 
you  is  how  to  give  fresh  air  to  your  little  baby  brothers  and 
sisters.  You  will  not  find  this  hard  because  all  you  will 
have  to  do  is  to  keep  the  baby  out-of-doors  as  much  as  you 
can  during  the  day,  and  have  him  sleep  at  night  and  during 
his  nap  time  in  a room  in  which  the  windows  are  kept 
open. 

Let  us  first  talk  about  giving  the  baby  fresh  air  out-of- 
doors.  The  things  we  have  to  think  about  are  the  age  of 
the  baby,  the  season  of  the  year,  and  the  kind  of  weather. 
Babies  from  the  time  they  are  born  until  they  are  three  or 
four  weeks  of  age  cannot  bear  cold  air  as  well  as  the  older 
babies.  In  the  summer  time,  however,  when  the  days  are 
hot,  babies  should  be  put  in  a baby  carriage  out-of-doors 
most  of  the  day  after  they  are  two  weeks  old.  But  you 
must  always  be  careful  to  put  the  top  of  the  baby  carriage 
up,  with  the  back  curtain  rolled  or  folded  out  of  the  way, 
so  that  the  air  can  pass  through.  If  the  carriage  has  no 
top,  put  some  kind  of  a screen  over  the  baby’s  head  to 
keep  the  sun  from  his  eyes.  Your  father,  or  your  brothers, 
or  possibly  you,  yourself,  can  easily  make  a frame  out  of 
sticks  of  Wood,  on  which  you  can  place  a small  shawl  or 

16 


clean,  thick  cloth,  so  that  the  shadow  will  fall  on  the  baby’s 
face,  and  this  will  serve  for  a screen.  If  there  are  flies 
about,  have  some  mosquito  netting  to  throw  over  the  top 
of  the  carriage  or  the  frame  to  keep  the  dirty  flies  from  the 
baby’s  face. 

Little  two-weeks-old  babies  should  not  be  put  out-of-doors 
in  the  early  mornings  or  late  evenings,  if  the  morning  or 
evenings  are  cool,  nor  should  they  be  out  on  the  cold  days 
of  summer  or  on  very  windy  or  damp  days.  When  the 
mornings  or  evenings  are  hot,  they  are  better  out-of-doors 
than  in-doors.  After  babies  are  four  weeks  old,  they  can 
be  kept  out-of-doors  in  almost  any  kind  of  summer  weather, 
except  when  it  is  rainy  or  very  windy.  The  wind  blows  so 
much  dust  about  that  it  is  bad  for  the  babies  to  be  in  the 
streets  or  parks,  but  even  on  windy  days  they  can  often 
be  kept  in  the  sheltered  corner  of  a dry,  clean  yard,  where 
the  wind  stirs  up  no  dust.  Summer  is  the  hardest  time  of 
year  for  babies.  Most  of  the  babies  that  die,  die  in  the 
summer  time,  and  most  of  these  die  because  of  the  bad 
food  and  bad  air,  so  they  should  get  just  as  much  fresh 
air  in  the  summer  time  as  possible.  On  very  hot  days  they 
should  wear  little  clothing,  just  a diaper  and  band  or  thin 
shirt,  and  a thin  slip,  and  they  should  be  kept  in  the 
shade.  If  you  have  a public  square  or  park  or  open  school 
yard  near  you,  wheel  the  baby  to  it  in  his  coach  and  put 
it  in  the  shade  of  a tree  or  building  and  let  him  sleep  there 
as  much  as  he  will,  taking  him  away  only  to  get  his  nursing 
or  bottle  at  the  right  time.  Always  take  some  extra  covers 
or  a coat  with  you,  so  that  if  it  gets  cool  suddenly  you  will 
have  something  warm  to  put  about  him.  Always  remem- 
ber, too,  to  take  some  extra  diapers  with  you,  so  that  you 
can  change  the  wet  or  soiled  diapers. 

In  the  cooler  weather  of  spring  or  fall  the  baby  is  just 
as  well  off  in  his  coach  in  the  yard,  if  the  yard  is  clean 
and  the  slop  and  garbage  cans  are  clean  and  covered,  and 
there  is  no  privy  well  in  the  yard.  The  disgusting  flies  feed 
in  these  filthy  places  and  then  crawl  over  the  little  baby’s 


*7 


face  and  mouth,  and  that  is  not  at  all  nice  to  think  about, 
and  it  is  very  dangerous.  You  can  protect  the  baby  from 
the  flies  by  throwing  a piece  of  mosquito  netting  over  the 
carriage. 

When  winter  comes,  the  cold,  rainy  days,  the  cold,  windy 
days  and  the  snowy  days  will  keep  the  baby  in  the  house. 
But  as  long  as  it  doesn’t  get  colder  than  20  degrees  ab<pve 
zero  and  the  sun  shines  and  the  wind  is  not  too  strong, 
put  all  the  baby’s  heavy  clothes  on,  his  heavy  cap,  mittens, 
heavy  stockings  and  heavy  coat;  then  pin  a good  warm 
blanket  over  his  legs  and  feet,  put  him  in  the  coach  and 
place  him  in  the  yard  for  a couple  of  hours’  nap  in  the 
middle  of  the  day.  The  bottom  of  the  carriage  must  be 
well  protected  with  blaukets  or  comforts  and  a rubber  cloth 
to  keep  them  from  getting  wet  and  to  keep  the  wind  from 
blowing  through.  Put  a hot  brick  wrapped  in  a blanket 
or  heavy  cloth  at  his  feet,  and  cover  him  up  with  another 
blanket.  At  other  times  on  such  days  the  baby  can  be 
well  wrapped  up  and  pushed  about  the  parks  for  a little 
while.  When  babies  are  old  enough  to  sit  up  in  their  car- 
riages, they  can  be  taken  out  in  such  weather  with  a 
blanket  pinned  closely  below  their  arms.  You  should  al- 
ways be  sure  that  the  underclothes,  coats  and  mittens  are 
thick  enough  to  keep  the  baby  warm,  and  that  he  has  warm 
wraps  about  his  neck.  He  should  wear  a hood  with  a cape 
that  goes  well  down  about  his  neck  so  that  his  coat  will 
fit  over  the  top  of  it. 

Now  we  must  find  out  how  to  give  the  baby  fresh  air 
in-doors.  The  way  to  get  fresh  air  into  the  room  is  to  keep 
the  windows  open.  The  baby’s  bed  room  should  have  the 
windows  open  when  he  is  sleeping  in  it  and  the  baby  should 
be  kept  warm  by  using  a hot  brick  and  wrapping  him  in 
the  same  way  that  he  is  wrapped  up  when  out-of-doors. 
At  all  times,  except  in  very  cold  and  windy  weather,  the 
windows  should  be  opened  wide.  Even  on  the  coldest 
nights,  the  window'  must  be  open  a little.  It  is  usually 
better  to  open  the  window  from  the  top  than  from  the 

18 


bottom,  but  be  sure  the  cold  air  does  not  blow  on  the 
baby.  Throw  a shawl  or  quilt  around  the  side  of  his 
bed,  to  keep  away  the  draught.  The  baby  or  any  one  else 
sleeping  in  the  room  may  be  kept  warm  by  using  enough 
covers,  especially  over  the  feet.  The  windows  should  be 
closed  when  the  room  is  not  in  use,  and  if  there  is  a stove 
or  register  in  the  room,  a fire  may  be  made  or  the  heat 
turned  on  for  a couple  of  hours  to  dry  out  the  dampness 
of  the  bedclothes;  or,  if  there  is  no  heat,  the  baby’s  bed- 
clothes must  be  warmed  by  the  kitchen  fire  before  he  is 
put  into  his  bed  again.  If  it  is  too  cold  to  take  the  baby 
out-of-doors  he  should  take  his  nap  in  his  room  with  the 
windows  open,  just  as  at  night,  and  the  bedclothes  should 
be  dried  and  warmed  in  the  same  way. 

The  baby  should  never  be  kept  in  a hot  kitchen.  It  is 
hard  to  keep  a kitchen  cool,  but  if  the  kitchen  in  your 
home  is  the  room  you  live  in,  it  ought  to  have  fresh  air 
coming  into  it  all  the  time,  through  an  open  window,  and 
the  window  should  be  opened  at  the  top.  You  and  your 
mother  and  every  one  else  in  the  family  would  be  better  if 
you  kept  fresh  air  coming  into  the  kitchen.  If  you  have 
a room  next  to  the  kitchen,  the  baby  should  Be  kept  there 
when  not  sleeping,  and  the  window  of  this  room  should  be 
open  a little  from  the  top.  If  there  is  heat  in  the  room, 
the  window  may  be  pulled  quite  far  down  from  the  top  so 
that  plenty  of  fresh  air  can  come  in.  If  you  get  into  the 
way  of  living  in  hot  houses,  you  feel  the  cold  much  more 
than  if  you  live  in  a cool  and  well-aired  house.  The  con- 
sumptive people  who  go  to  consumptive  hospitals  and  live 
out-of-doors,  or  with  the  windows  wide  open,  in  all  kinds  of 
weather,  often  feel  quite  sick  when  they  come  back  to  live 
in  the  heated  rooms  of  the  city.  You  must  learn  the  lesson 
of  fresh  air,  and  teach  it  to  your  families,  and  train  your 
little  baby  brothers  and  sisters  to  live  in  the  fresh  air  so 
they  can  keep  well. 

(The  only  thing  that  can  be  demonstrated  in  this  talk  is 
the  preparation  of  the  coach  and  the  wrapping  the  baby 

19 


in  the  blanket  for  his  daily  outing,  and  for  his  bed  in  a 
cold  room.  Please  formulate  a summary  of  the  points  that 
should  be  emphasized  in  this  talk,  and  repeat  them  at  the 
end  of  the  talk,  that  they  may  be  better  fixed  in  the  minds 
of  the  children.  Incidentally,  it  will  impress  them  upon 
your  mind  and  make  the  teaching  easier.) 


Lesson  4 

MOSQUITOES,  FLIES,  LICE,  BEDBUGS,  ETC. 

Flies,  mosquitoes,  bedbugs  and  vermin  make  trouble  for 
people  who  are  not  clean  in  their  habits.  In  the  old  days, 
no  one  bothered  much  about  the  ordinary  house  flies,  or 
thought  of  trying  to  get  rid  of  them,  or  even  tried  to  keep 
them  out  of  the  house.  But  very  few1  people  knew  then 
how  much  illness  and  disease  was  caused  by  the  flies  that 
crawl  around  in  all  kinds  of  dirty  places.  Flies  are  just 
about  the  dirtiest  things  that  live.  Usually  when  we  see 
people  who  are  dirty,  we  are  apt  to  call  them  “pigs,”  be- 
cause we  think  of  pigs  as  being  almost  the  dirtiest  animals 
that  we  know.  But  pigs  are  really  much  cleaner  than  flies. 

Do  you  know  that  the  birthplaces  of  nearly  all  flies  are 
manure  piles,  rotten  fish  and  meat,  and  privies?  So  you 
see,  they  begin  life  in  the  dirtiest  places  and  they  spend  a 
great  deal  of  their  lives  in  the  dirtiest  places.  The  chief 
thing  that  attracts  flies  is  food.  Flies  come  into  the  house, 
and  especially  the  kitchen,  from  the  manure  piles  and  privies 
and  feed  on  the  food  that  w'e  eat.  They  will  settle  on  any 
kind  of  food  they  see.  For  this  reason,  we  must  be  very 
careful  not  to  leave  food  lying  uncovered.  We  must  clean 
up  the  dishes  and  wash  the  plates  right  after  the  meal,  and 
put  the  china  away  in  a closed  cupboard  until  it  is  needed 
again.  The  scraps  of  food  that  cannot  be  used  and  that 
are  to  be  thrown  away  must  be  put  into  the  garbage  can 
and  a close-fitting  lid  put  on  the  can  at  once,  to  keep  the 
flies  away.  If  the  garbage  pail  is  not  covered,  it  will  attract 


20 


a great  number  of  flies,  and  some  of  these  will  get  into  the 
kitchen  with  their  legs  and  feet  soiled  with  tainted  food. 

Suppose  that  the  milk  bottle  has  been  left  uncovered  on 
the  table.  The  flies  get  thirsty  and  settle  on  the  milk  bot- 
tle, or  crawl  into  it.  These  may  be  the  very  same  flies 
that  have  come  directly  from  a manure  pile  or  privy  Well, 
and  the  dirty  matter  which  has  stuck  to  their  feet  gets  into 
the  milk.  The,  germs  that  make  disease  are  in  this  dirt, 
and  when  they  get  in  the  milk,  they  grow  very  fast,  espe- 
cially if  the  milk  is  left  in  the  hot  kitchen.  Then  when 
the  mother  pours  the  dirty  milk  into  the  baby’s  bottle  or 
cup,  the  baby  drinks  it,  and  then  we  wonder  what  it  is 
that  makes  the  baby  sick.  Your  own  little  baby  brother 
or  sister  may  get  some  awful  disease  from  flies.  Even  if 
they  should  get  no  disease,  you  surely  would  not  want 
the  baby  to  drink  what  filthy  flies  had  been  wading  in. 

The  best  way  to  keep  flies  out  of  your  house  is  first  by 
keeping  your  yard  clean.  Keep  all  the  rubbish  picked  up, 
and  if  it  is  a paved  yard  it  is  well  to  flush  it  often  with 
water  in  the  summer  time.  Have  a tin  can  with  a tight- 
fitting  lid  to  put  the  garbage  in,  and  see  that  none  of  it 
falls  outside  the  can.  If  you  have  a yard  privy,  get  your 
father  to  put  a tight-fitting  screen  door  on  it  so  that  the 
flies  cannot  get  in.  You  must  also  have  the  doors  and 
windows  of  the  house  screened.  If  you  cannot  get  wire 
screen,  tack  mosquito  netting  on  the  window  frames,  and 
get  your  father  to  make  a cheap  frame  to  fit  the  door, 
and  put  mosquito  netting  on  it.  If  the  flies  once  get  into 
the  house,  use  a fly  trap  or  a fly  “swatter”  to  get  rid  of 
them.  Remember  how1  filthy  they  are,  and  do  your  utmost 
to  kill  them. 

Another  kind  of  unpleasant  company  is  the  bedbug.  It 
is  apt  to  be  found  in  the  old  wooden  bedsteads,  and  along 
the  moulding  and  baseboards  and  behind  the  wall  paper. 
Bedbugs  seldom  show  themselves  in  the  day,  but  come  out 
to  feed  on  people  at  night.  Nobody  wants  to  sleep  in  a 
bed  which  has  these  creatures  in  it.  They  are  hard  pests 


21 


to  get  rid  of  because  they  increase  so  rapidly.  If  the  baby 
gets  bitten  badly  by  bedbugs,  it  will  make  him  quite  sick, 
and  the  bites  will  show  as  hard  red  lumps  underneath  the 
skin.  One  way  to  get  rid  of  the  bedbugs  is  to  pour  boiling 
water  all  over  the  woodwork  where  you  think  they  are  hid- 
ing. If  they  are  in  the  wall  paper,  you  will  have  to  have 
the  walls  scraped  and  cleaned.  Then,  there  are  ways  of 
using  certain  drugs  to  kill  them,  which  you  can  find  out  by 
asking  the  Department  of  Health  in  the  City  Hall.  But 
whatever  you  do  to  kill  these  pests  must  be  done  thoroughly 
or  it  will  never  succeed. 

Another  dangerous  insect  is  the  louse,  which  lives  on  the 
heads  and  bodies  of  people  who  are  not  kept  clean.  Many 
little  boys  and  girls  get  these  dirty  lice  at  school.  We  will 
mention  only  about  the  head  lice.  They  are  very  easily 
carried  from  one  person  to  another,  and  if  older  members 
of  the  family  have  them  they  must  take  great  care  to  keep 
away  from  the  baby.  The  reason  lice  are  so  dangerous  is 
that  they  cause  disease  in  the  scalp  and  sometimes  lumps  in 
the  neck;  and  if  nothing  is  done  to  kill  them,  and  keep 
the  head  clean,  they  will  cause  real  illness. 

When  lice  get  into  the  hair,  they  increase  very  rapidly. 
It  is  troublesome  to  find  them  in  the  long  hair  of  girls,  be- 
cause they  can  hide  there  very  easily.  They  can  be  killed 
by  putting  kerosene  and  sweet  oil  on  the  hair.  It  is  harder 
to  get  rid  of  the  nits  (which  are  the  eggs  of  the  lice), 
which  stick  tight  to  the  hair,  and  cannot  be  combed  off 
even  with  a fine  tooth  comb.  Cutting  off  the  hair  is  the 
quickest  way  to  get  rid  of  nits. 

We  must  be  very  careful  to  see  that  the  lice  do  not  hide 
in  the  baby’s  caps  or  bedding.  The  safest  thing  to  do  is 
to  boil  all  the  things  on  which  the  lice  are  apt  to  be. 

In  some  families  the  children  use  the  same  brush  and 
comb  that  the  older  people  use.  This  is  very  bad,  for  if 
the  older  people  have  any  disease  of  the  scalp  the  children 
will  get  the  same  disease. 

Another  insect  that  sometimes  carries  illness  is  the  mos- 


22 


quito.  Down  in  the  South,  where  they  have  malaria  so 
badly,  they  have  found  that  it  comes  from  the  bites  of 
mosquitoes.  And  We  have  the  same  disease  around  our 
town.  In  the  summer  time  when  the  baby  is  out  of  doors 
all  day  long  we  must  protect  him  very  carefully  from  mos- 
quito bites,  not  only  because  of  malaria,  but  because  the 
bites  itch,  and  when  scratched  may  become  very  sore.  The 
best  way  to  keep  flies  and  mosquitoes  from  getting  on  the 
baby  is  to  spread  mosquito  netting  over  the  baby’s  crib  or 
baby  coach,  so  that  the  head  and  upper  part  of  the  body 
are  covered  completely.  But  this  must  be  put  over  the 
crib  at  sunset,  especially,  as  the  mosquitoes  begin  to  bite 
as  the  sun  goes  down.  There  is  no  use  of  using  it,  how- 
ever, if  there  are  no  mosquitoes.  The  baby  gets  more  air 
without  the  netting. 

Lesson  S 

THE  BABY'S  BED 

Every  baby  must  have  a bed  to  himself.  He  must  not 
sleep  in  the  same  bed  with  his  father,  mother,  brother,  sis- 
ter, or  any  one  else.  This  is  a most  important  thing  to  re- 
member. 

There  are  four  reasons  why  the  baby  should  have  his 
own  bed.  First,  when  he  is  very  young,  there  is  danger 
that  the  mother  may  turn  over  on  him  while  asleep  and 
smother  him.  Many  babies  have  died  from  this  dreadful 
accident,  which  could  not  have  happened  had  the  baby 
been  in  a bed  by  himself.  Second,  when  the  baby  sleeps 
in  a bed  with  some  one  else  the  bedclothes  get  pulled  up 
over  his  head,  and  he  suffers  from  lack  of  fresh  air.  Third, 
if  in  bed  with  his  mother,  he  is  apt  to  be  nursed  too  fre- 
quently during  the  night.  This  is  bad  both  for  the  baby 
and  the  mother;  and,  fourth,  there  is  danger  of  his  catch- 
ing some  infectious  disease  from  the  person  with  whom 
he  sleeps. 


23 


The  best  kind  of  a bed  for  the  baby  is  a crib,  and  the  best 
kind  of  a crib  is  one  made  of  iron.  A cradle  which  rocks 
should  never  be  used,  because  if  one  begins  rocking  the 
baby  he  will  quickly  form  the  bad  habit  of  crying,  unless  he 
is  rocked  almost  continuously.  Besides,  rocking  is  not  good 
for  him.  An  iron  crib  is  much  better  than  a wooden  one, 
because  it  is  stronger  and  more  readily  kept  clean.  It  is 
also  easier  to  keep  it  free  from  bedbugs,  the  Wooden  bed 
has  many  holes  and  cracks  in  which  the  bugs  can  hide. 
Bedbugs  carry  disease.  Every  good  “little  mother”  should 
make  it  her  duty  to  see  that  there  are  no  bedbugs  in  the 
baby’s  bed  and  that  it  is  kept  clean.  A plain  crib  is  much 
better  than  a fancy  one.  The  plain  crib  will  wear  better, 
it  has  not  so  many  places  in  which  dirt  and  dust  can  col- 
lect, and  is  much  easier  to  clean. 

The  crib  must  be  painted  and  the  best  color  is  white. 
It  should  be  repainted  from  time  to  time,  as  the  enamel 
paint  becomes  chipped.  It  is  well  to  buy  a crib  that 
has  high  sides,  so  that  when  the  baby  grows  older  he 
will  not  be  able  to  climb  over  the  sides  and  fall  to  the 
floor.  The  bars  of  the  crib  should  be  close  enough  together 
to  keep  the  baby  from  getting  his  head  between  the 
bars. 

If  one  cannot  afford  to  buy  a crib,  a large  laundry 
basket  will  make  a good  bed  for  the  baby.  The  ordinary 
clothes  basket  will  do.  It  is  even  possible  to  make  a cheaper 
bed  by  using  a wooden  crate  or  box.  If  a box  is  used  the 
sides  may  be  knocked  off  and  wooden  strips  nailed  in  their 
stead.  Of  course,  all  splinters  must  be  removed,  the  rough 
edges  smoothed  down  and  the  box  covered  with  at  least 
two  coats  of  white  paint.  The  bed,  whether  it  be  a crib, 
a basket,  or  a box,  must  be  cleaned  frequently.  At  least 
once  a week  it  must  be  washed  carefully  all  over  with  a 
damp  cloth. 

If  a basket  or  box  is  used  as  a bed  it  should  be  placed 
on  a low  table  or  box,  large  and  strong  enough  to  hold  it, 
or  on  the  seats  of  two  chairs.  By  having  the  bed  high  the 


24 


mother  will  be  saved  much  bending  over  while  attending 
to  the  baby’s  needs. 

The  bed  must  be  placed  in  a part  of  the  room  that  will 
provide  fresh  air  for  the  baby,  but  it  must  not  be  in  a 
direct  draught.  It  should  not  be  pushed  up  tight  against 
the  wall,  nor  placed  too  close  to  the  mother’s  bed. 

The  best  mattresses  are  made  of  felt  or  horsehair,  but 
these  cost  a great  deal.  A good  mattress  can  be  made  of 
cotton  packed  firmly  in  a cover,  or  by  folding  a piece  of 
table  felt  until  these  are  6 or  8 thicknesses.  If  two  pieces 
of  this  silence  cloth,  as  it  is  called,  are  provided,  one  can 
always  be  kept  clean  by  being  washed  and  boiled  every 
few  days. 

A straw  or  excelsior  mattress  is  too  rough  for  a baby, 
though  they  may  be  used  if  covered  with  a thick  comforter 
or  quilt.  Feather  mattresses  are  too  soft.  The  baby  sinks 
down  deep  in  them  and  becomes  overheated.  It  is  best 
to  cover  the  cotton  mattress  with  a slip  to  keep  it  clean. 

In  making  up  the  baby's  bed,  you  must  first  cover  the 
mattress  with  some  kind  of  cloth  that  will  not  allow  water 
to  go  through.  If  you  do  not  do  this  the  mattress  will 
soon  be  damp,  stained,  dirty,  and  full  of  odors.  The  best 
material  for  this  purpose  is  rubber  sheeting,  but  it  costs  a 
good  deal.  Ordinary  white  table  oilcloth  will  do,  but  it  will 
not  last  as  long  as  the  rubber  sheeting.  The  oilcloth  must 
be  large  enough  to  cover  the  entire  mattress  and  fold 
under  the  sides.  If  you  will  sew  four  or  six  pieces  of  tape 
on  the  sides  of  the  oilcloth  they  can  be  tied  on  the  under 
side  of  the  mattress,  and  keep  it  from  slipping  and  getting 
wrinkled  under  the  baby. 

The  next  thing  to  put  on  the  bed  is  the  sheet,  which 
should  be  made  of  muslin.  It  must  be  large  enough  to  tuck 
under  the  sides  and  ends  of  the  mattress.  Smooth  it  out 
carefully  to  get  rid  of  the  wrinkles.  A very  good  way  to 
save  the  sheet  from  being  changed  every  time  the  baby 
wets  his  diaper  is  to  put  a small  piece  of  oilcloth  on  top 


25 


of  the  sheet,  covered  with  a clean  diaper.  This  is  easily 
changed. 

Next  comes  the  top  sheet.  This  is  tucked  under  at  the 
foot  and  the  sides,  but  not  at  the  head,  where  it  should  just 
reach  the  edge  of  the  mattress.  Then  put  on  the  blankets, 
which  should  be  warm,  but  not  too  heavy.  These  are 
tucked  in  just  as  the  top  sheet  was,  but  do  not  reach  up 
toward  the  head  quite  so  far.  A spread  or  cover  for  the 
bed  is  not  absolutely  necessary,  but  it  will  help  to  keep 
the  blankets  clean,  and  will  make  the  bed  look  much 
neater;  an  extra  sheet  may  be  used  for  this  purpose.  Put 
the  spread  on  exactly  as  you  did  the  blankets.  Be  sure  all 
the  bedclothes  are  nice  and  smooth  so  there  will  be  no 
wrinkles.  Now  turn  down  the  top  sheet  very  evenly  over 
the  edge  of  the  blankets  and  spread  and  you  have  a fully 
made  bed. 

Before  making  up  the  baby’s  bed  in  the  morning,  all 
the  covers,  including  the  mattress  cover,  should  be  taken 
off  the  bed  and  placed  on  the  backs  of  chairs  near  an  open 
window,  so  that  they  will  be  well  aired.  Do  not  place  or 
let  the  bedclothes  fall  on  the  floor.  The  mattress  must  be 
turned  each  day  before  the  bed  is  made  up. 

To  keep  the  baby  well,  the  bedclothes  must  be  kept  clean. 
Dirty  bedclothes  mean  a sick  baby  sooner  or  later.  When 
the  bedclothes  become  wet  or  soiled  they  should  be  changed 
immediately,  even  if  at  night,  because  if  the  baby  is  al- 
lowed to  sleep  in  a wet  bed  he  will  take  cold.  It  is,  there- 
fore, necessary  to  have  a number  of  clean  sheets  on  hand. 
Bedclothes  after  being  washed  should  be  boiled  in  order 
to  kill  the  germs  which  make  babies  sick.  Do  not  forget 
that  when  the  rubber  sheet  becomes  wet  it  must  also  be 
carefully  cleaned  and  dried  before  putting  the  muslin  sheet 
over  it.  This  may  be  done  by  washing  off  the  smooth  rub- 
ber surface  with  warm  water  and  soap. 

Train  the  baby  from  the  start  to  sleep  without  a pillow, 
because  he  will  get  more  fresh  air  in  his  lungs  if  his  head 
is  not  on  a pillow.  This  is  especially  true  if  the  baby  sleeps 

26 


on  his  back;  if  he  sleeps  on  his  side  a small  flat  hair  pillow, 
not  more  than  two  inches  thick,  may  be  allowed.  A large 
feather  pillow  is  harmful,  as  it  makes  the  baby  sweat  around 
the  head  and  thus  catch  cold.  Before  putting  the  baby  in 
bed,  during  cold  weather,  the  sheets  should  be  warmed  be- 
fore the  fire  or  by  means  of  a hot-water  bottle.  If  the 
baby  sweats  while  in  bed,  it  usually  means  that  he  is  cov- 
ered too  warmly;  but  if  he  has  cold  hands  and  feet,  it 
means  that  warmer  bedclothes  are  needed. 

Lesson  6 

CHANGING  A BABY’S  POSITION 

A baby  should  never  be  lifted  by  the  arms.  When  it  is 
necessary  to  pick  up  a baby  place  one  of  your  hands 
under  his  hips  while  your  other  is  under  his  head.  Until 
the  baby  is  strong  enough  to  hold  up  his  own  head  hold  it 
for  him.  Don’t  let  the  baby’s  head  drop  to  one  side  or 
backward  for  fear  of  injuring  his  brain. 

Never  use  the  baby’s  arm  as  a handle.  When  he  is  old 
enough  to  walk,  never  pull  him  up  a step  or  on  to  the 
pavement  by  the  arm,  in  crossing  the  street.  This  may  pull 
the  arm  out  of  place,  or  even  break  it,  and  it  always  hurts 
the  baby.  The  “little  mother’’  should  put  both  of  her 
hands  about  the  baby’s  body,  under  the  arms  and  lift  him 
up  very  carefully. 

It  is  bad  to  prop  babies  up  with  pillows  before  they  are 
strong  enough  to  sit  alone,  or  to  let  them  sit  too  long  after 
they  have  begun  to  sit  up.  This  is  very  likely  to  make  the 
spine  crooked  for  life  and  it  usually  makes  the  baby  so  out 
of  shape  that  he  cannot  breathe  well. 

Babies  who  are  not  able  to  hold  their  own  heads  up 
should  never  be  held  in  a sitting  position,  unless  the  head  is 
supported. 

In  carrying  very  little  babies,  up  to  the  time  they  are 
six  months  old,  the  back  and  head  should  rest  against  the 
arm  and  in  a lying  position. 


27 


Once  in  a while  a baby  may  be  carried  over  your  shoulder 
with  his  stomach  and  chest  against  your  chest  and  his  face 
just  above  your  shoulder.  Keep  one  of  your  hands  at  the 
back  of  his  head.  A change  to  this  position  will  sometimes 
relieve  colic. 

When  put  to  bed  or  in  a baby  carriage  a baby  should 
be  placed  on  his  back.  If  he  cries,  instead  of  lifting  him 
up,  he  may  be  placed  on  his  side  for  a few  minutes,  or 
even  placed  on  his  stomach  with  his  head  turned  to  one 
side.  He  should  never  be  left  alone  when  in  these  posi- 
tions, as  he  may  turn  on  his  face  and  be  smothered.  A 
baby  must  not  have  feather  pillows  for  his  head,  he  sleeps 
better  without  any  pillow.  Pillows  make  him  too  hot.  In 
the  baby  carriage  he  may  have  a small  hair  or  cotton 
pillow. 

(At  the  end  of  the  preceding  subject  it  would  be  well 
for  the  teacher  to  question  the  class.  Have  some  little  girl 
take  the  doll  and  show  the  way  it  should  be  lifted,  handled, 
carried  and  lifted  up  a step  or  on  the  pavement  from  the 
street.  If  the  first  little  girl  does  not  know  how  to  do  this, 
call  several,  trying  to  pick  out  the  bright  children  who 
have  probably  understood  the  subject.  Then  go  through 
the  demonstration  yourself.  Ask  questions  about  points 
that  cannot  be  demonstrated.) 

Lesson  7 

SLEEP 

A young  baby  does  little  else  than  eat  and  sleep;  he 
sleeps  20  to  22  hours  a day.  As  the  baby  grows  older  he 
does  not  sleep  so  much;  for  instance,  when  he  is  6 months 
old  he  sleeps  about  1 8 hours,  and  when  he  becomes  a year 
old,  about  1 6 hours.  A two-year-old  baby  sleeps  about  1 4 
hours  a day.  “Little  mothers”  must  never  forget  that  babies 
should  sleep  almost  all  the  time,  and  that  they  need  this 
great  amount  of  sleep  in  order  to  grow  healthy  and  strong. 
In  short,  the  more  sleep  the  better.  Why  is  it  that  some 

28 


babies  do  not  sleep  as  they  should?  If  they  are  not  sick, 
the  reason  is  that  they  have  not  been  properly  trained.  It 
is  most  important  for  “little  mothers”  to  remember  that 
every  baby  must  be  carefully  trained  so  that  he  may  get 
the  right  amount  of  sleep. 

This  training  should  begin  when  the  baby  is  very  young. 
When  it  is  started  at  birth  it  is  a very  simple  matter,  but 
if  it  is  not  started  until  the  baby  is  several  months  old,  then 
it  is  a much  harder  thing  to  do.  The  reason  for  this  is 
that  babies  quickly  form  habits,  either  good  or  bad,  de- 
pending on  the  care  they  receive.  These  habits,  although 
quickly  formed,  are  difficult  to  break.  It  is,  therefore, 
important  to  train  babies  right  in  regard  to  sleep  from 
the  very  beginning,  because  sleep  is  so  important  and  so 
largely  depends  upon  the  training.  “Little  mothers”  can  be 
of  great  assistance  in  properly  training  the  baby,  and  the 
most  important  point  in  this  training  is  to  have  regular  hours 
for  the  baby  to  sleep.  See  that  he  has  his  nap  at  the  same 
hour  every  day  and  that  he  is  put  to  bed  every  night  at  six 
o’clock.  If  your  little  brother  or  sister  is  kept  up  later 
than  six  o’clock,  tell  your  mother  it  is  bad  for  the  baby,  as 
it  makes  him  cross  and  irritable. 

A young  baby  that  is  put  to  bed  at  6 P.  M.  must  be  fed 
again  about  10  P.  M.  Before  the  mother  goes  to  sleep, 
she  will  gently  wake  the  baby  and  nurse  him  or  give  him 
the  bottle,  as  the  case  may  be.  If  he  happens  to  be  a 
bottle-fed  baby  he  should  not  be  picked  up,  but  the  bottle 
given  him  in  bed.  After  he  has  been  fed  at  10  P.  M.,  a 
well-trained  baby  will  go  to  sleep  and  not  wake  up  until 
five  or  six  o’clock  in  the  morning.  Of  course,  to  do  this  his 
bed  must  be  comfortable,  his  clothes  smooth,  there  must  be 
fresh  air  in  the  room,  and  he  must  have  on  a dry  diaper. 

Sometimes  a mother  makes  the  mistake  of  feeding  the 
baby  whenever  he  cries  during  the  night,  and  he  soon  forms 
the  habit  of  crying  frequently  to  be  fed.  This  makes  him 
a very  restless  sleeper. 

“Little  mothers”  must  remember  that  babies  cry  for 


29 


everything  they  want,  and  the  more  they  are  given  their 
own  way  the  more  they  cry.  If  the  baby  has  been  regular- 
ly fed  he  probably  is  not  hungry  at  all;  he  may  be  thirsty, 
and  after  being  given  a little  warm  water  to  drink,  he  will 
again  go  off  to  sleep. 

The  baby  wakes  up  about  six  o’clock  in  the  morning, 
and  from  then  on  during  the  day  time,  he  must  be  awakened 
at  regular  intervals,  depending  upon  his  age,  usually  every 
three  hours  or  more,  to  be  fed.  He  must  never  be  allowed 
to  sleep  during  the  day  beyond  the  regular  feeding  time. 
When  the  clock  strikes  the  feeding  hour,  if  the  baby  is 
asleep,  the  mother  must  gently  wake  him  and  give  him  his 
feeding.  Babies  that  are  trained  in  this  way  and  not  al- 
lowed to  sleep  beyond  the  regular  feeding  time  will  form 
good  habits  and  sleep  well  at  night.  It  is  most  important 
not  to  give  in  to  the  baby,  but  to  train  him  to  sleep  at  the 
regular  hours. 

Put  him  to  bed  while  he  is  still  awake,  and  go  out  of 
the  room  at  once.  The  baby  must  not  be  allowed  to  go  to 
sleep  on  the  mother’s  breast,  or  with  a bottle  nipple  in  his 
mouth.  Never  give  a baby  a nipple  or  a pacifier  to  suck 
in  order  to  put  him  to  sleep.  The  baby  will  quickly  form 
this  harmful  habit.  Do  not  allow  him  to  suck  his  thumb. 
Thumb  sucking  changes  the  shape  of  the  baby’s  mouth, 
causing  the  teeth  to  come  in  crooked,  and  making  deformi- 
ties of  the  mouth,  that  cause  nose  and  throat  troubles  and 
injure  the  speaking  and  singing  voice.  It  is  also  bad  to  let 
a baby  suck  a sugar  rag  or  any  other  object.  This  sucking 
habit  is  very  hard  to  break.  There  are  big  boys  and  girls 
who  cannot  yet  go  to  sleep  without  having  something  in 
their  mouths  to  suck. 

Never  rock  a baby  to  sleep.  If  you  once  start  rocking, 
you  will  have  to  rock  him  every  time  you  want  to  put  him 
to  sleep — besides  rocking  is  not  good  for  the  baby.  It  is 
also  unnecessary  to  walk  the  floor  with  the  baby  or  to  sing 
him  to  sleep.  If  you  do  these  things  once  they  will  have 
to  be  continued. 


30 


Do  not  have  a bright  light  in  the  room  and  do  not  talk 
when  the  baby  is  going  to  sleep,  never  play  with  the  baby 
and  get  him  excited  just  before  bedtime,  it  disturbs  his 
sleep.  When  a baby  is  young,  it  is  well  not  to  let  him  lie 
in  the  same  position  all  the  time.  Change  his  position  now 
and  then. 

In  cold  weather,  before  putting  the  baby  to  bed,  take  off 
the  bedclothes  and  warm  them  before  the  kitchen  fire.  If 
the  baby  kicks  off  the  bedclothes  at  night,  you  can  hold 
the  covers  in  place  by  taking  an  old  pair  of  elastic  hose 
supporters,  one  for  each  side  of  the  bed;  fastening  the 
upper  end  to  the  bed  and  the  lower  end  to  the  bedclothes. 
This  method  is  better  than  pinning  the  clothes  up  with  a 
safety  pin,  as  it  gives  the  baby  more  room  to  move.  Be 
sure  the  baby’s  nose  and  mouth  are  not  covered  by  the 
bedclothes.  If  they  are,  the  baby  will  not  get  as  much 
fresh  air  in  his  lungs  as  he  needs  in  order  to  be  well  and 
strong. 

Too  many  bedclothes  and  too  few  bedclothes  are  both 
causes  of  the  baby’s  crying  at  night.  Feel  his  feet  to  see 
if  they  are  warm;  if  they  are  cold,  place  a hot-water  bottle 
or  warm  brick  at  the  foot  of  the  bed,  but  be  exceedingly 
careful  not  to  burn  the  baby.  The  brick  or  the  bottle 
should  be  wrapped  in  a clean  cloth  or  towel. 

A baby  should  never  sleep  in  the  same  room  with  a 
person  who  is  sick,  especially  if  the  person  has  a cough. 
The  baby  must  have  pure  air  to  breathe,  and  this  he  can- 
not have  if  he  breathes  in  the  impure  air  the  sick  person 
has  breathed  out. 

Finally,  never  give  the  baby  any  medicine  to  make  him 
sleep.  The  so-c&EIed  soothing  syrups  contain  opium  or 
alcohol,  which  are  poisons  to  a baby,  and  many  babies  have 
died  from  the  effects  of  these  soothing  syrups. 


Lesson  8 

WEIGHING  THE  BABY 

During  the  talk  keep  the  baby  or  doll  in  your  arms  and 
demonstrate  every  point  possible.  After  the  talk,  show  how 
to  weigh  the  baby,  and  warn  against  carelessness  and 
against  holding  the  baby  much  above  the  table  or  floor, 
lest  the  knot  slip  or  something  else  happen  and  the  baby 
fall.  Explain  the  use  of  steelyards  and  baby  scales.  The 
former,  if  carefully  used,  are  to  be  recommended  in  prefer- 
ence to  scales  on  account  of  their  greater  accuracy. 

The  teacher  should  have,  in  class,  a piece  of  plain  muslin, 
about  a yard  square,  to  use  in  demonstrating  the  method 
of  weighing  the  doll. 

How  To  Find  Out  Whether  a Baby  Is  Thriving 

The  Weight  of  the  Baby 

You  all  know  how  small  a baby  is  when  he  is  first  born. 
He  usually  weighs  only  about  seven  pounds.  We  have  told 
you  that  in  some  ways  a little  baby  is  like  a little  plant. 
Like  the  little  plant,  he  is  very  delicate,  and  therefore  has 
to  be  handled  very  gently.  After  the  little  plant  pushes 
its  head  through  the  earth,  it  grows  very  slowly  for  a few 
days,  until  it  gets  used  to  the  new  world,  and  the  baby,  too, 
must  get  used  to  the  light  and  the  air  and  the  food  that 
is  given  him,  and  for  these  reasons  he  also  fails  to  grow  in 
the  first  few  days.  A baby  that  weighs  seven  pounds  when 
born,  for  instance,  will  often  weigh  only  six  and  a half 
pounds  after  two  or  three  days;  but  after  that,  if  his  mother 
is  well,  he  begins  to  grow  very  rapidly  in  length  and 
breadth,  and  keeps  on  growing  steadily  until  he  becomes  a 
man. 

It  is  very  hard  to  tell,  by  merely  looking  at  a baby  from 
week  to  week,  whether  he  is  growing  as  he  should.  So  we 
have  had  to  find  out  some  way  by  which  we  can  tell.  The 
doctors  believe  that  one  of  the  best  ways  to  do  this  is  by 
weighing  the  baby  every  week.  If  the  baby  is  well  and  the 


32 


mother  has  plenty  of  good  milk,  and  she  nurses  the  baby 
regularly,  the  baby  should  gain  from  !/4  to  Yl  a pound  each 
week,  and  he  should  continue  to  gain,  weekly,  throughout 
the  first  year,  though  he  probably  will  not  gain  quite  so 
fast  the  second  half  of  the  year  as  he  did  during  the  first 
six  months. 

Weighing  the  baby  will  tell  us  whether  he  is  gaining  in 
weight  as  he  ought.  But  you  cannot  always  be  certain  that 
the  baby  is  gaining  strength  just  from  the  weight  alone. 
Sometimes  you  will  see  big,  fat  babies  that  are  fed  on 
wrong  foods.  These  babies  may  gain  regularly  and  get 
very  fat,  but  such  food  does  not  make  them  strong.  So 
we  must  also  know  whether  a baby  is  getting  strong,  and 
there  are  several  ways  of  telling  this.  First,  he  must  not  be 
pale.  He  must  have  pink  cheeks,  his  eyes  must  be  bright 
and  clear,  and  he  must  be  happy  and  sleep  well.  His  flesh 
must  be  firm  and  not  soft  and  flabby  (show  them  on  the  doll 
what  you  mean  by  this)  and  must  not  shake  like  jelly  when 
you  touch  it. 

Babies  a few  days  old  are  very  delicate  little  things,  but 
even  at  that  age  they  have  some  strength,  as  you  can  find 
out  by  putting  your  finger  in  their  little  hands  and  seeing 
how  hard  they  squeeze  it.  They  won’t  reach  for  your 
fingers  because  they  can’t  see  very  well,  and  even  a little 
later  when  they  are,  say,  a month  old,  and  can  see,  they 
can’t  use  their  hands  as  you  do,  because  they  wabble  about 
so  they  can’t  put  their  hands  on  the  things  they  want  to  get. 
But  when  babies  are  about  three  months  old,  they  can 
manage  themselves  a little  better,  and  will  often  be  able 
to  get  hold  of  what  they  want. 

You  will  remember  how  you  were  taught,  that  you  must 
always  put  your  hand  back  of  the  baby’s  head  when  you 
lift  him,  until  he  can  hold  up  his  own  head.  If  a baby  gets 
his  strength  as  fast  as  he  should,  he  will  begin  to  hold  up 
his  head  when  you  hold  him  in  your  arms  when  he  is  about 
three  months  old.  So  if  you  see  the  baby  is  beginning  to 
grasp  things  you  give  him,  and  to  hold  up  his  head  at  three 


33 


months,  you  will  know  that  he  is  getting  his  strength  as  he 
ought.  If  he  does  not  do  these  things  by  the  time  he  is 
five  months  old,  you  ought  to  tell  your  mother  to  have  the 
doctor  see  him,  to  find  out  whether  he  is  all  right. 

The  baby  will  begin  to  sit  up  in  his  crib  when  he  is  be- 
tween six  and  eight  months  old,  if  his  strength  is  coming 
as  it  should.  Those  of  you  who  are  caring  for  little  babies 
will  get  a surprise  some  day,  when  you  go  to  the  baby’s 
crib  to  find  him  sitting  up,  waiting  for  you.  If  he  doesn’t 
try  to  sit  up  by  the  time  he  is  8J/2  months  old  you  had  better 
call  the  doctor  in  again,  to  find  out  why  the  baby  is  not 
as  strong  as  he  ought  to  be. 

The  chances  are  that  he  is  going  to  surprise  you  more 
than  once.  Some  day  when  he  is  from  ten  to  twelve  months 
old,  you  will  put  him  to  sleep,  and  when  the  nap  is  over 
you  will  find  him  standing  with  his  hands  on  the  side  of 
the  crib,  peeking  through  the  bars,  for  if  babies  are  getting 
strength  as  they  should,  they  are  nearly  always  able  to 
stand  if  they  have  something  to  hold  on  to,  just  before 
they  are  a year  old. 

It  is  not  right  to  let  them  do  this,  because  their  little  legs 
are  not  strong  enough  and  may  get  crooked. 

You  might  think  that  if  they  begin  to  stand  when  they 
are  ten  or  twelve  months  old,  they  would  soon  walk;  but 
it  takes  a baby  a long  time  to  learn  to  balance  himself, 
and  he  doesn’t  usually  walk  until  he  is  about  fourteen 
months  old,  and  then  only  if  he  has  got  his  strength  as 
he  should.  When  he  begins  to  walk,  don’t  let  him  do  much 
of  it  at  first.  He  must  make  his  legs  strong  by  walking  a 
little  at  a time.  If  he  doesn’t  go  slowly  he  will  have  crooked 
legs,  or  he  may  get  some  bad  falls,  because  he  is  so  un- 
steady. 

Never  |et  a baby  that  is  old  enough  to  move  about  stay 
near  a stove,  a stairway,  or  an  open  door.  The  minute 
your  back  is  turned  he  may  fall  against  the  stove,  down  the 
stairs,  or  go  out  into  the  street.  They  are  very  quick.  A 

34 


careful  “little  mother”  will  never  take  her  eyes  off  of  a 
baby  that  is  able  to  move  about. 

So  you  see  there  are  a lot  of  ways  by  which  you  can  tell 
whether  the  little  baby  is  growing  and  getting  his  strength 
as  he  should.  First,  he  will  gain  from  V4  to  Vs  pound  every 
week;  second,  his  cry  will  be  strong,  his  color  will  be  good, 
his  cheeks  pink,  and  his  legs  and  arms  firm;  third,  he  will 
begin  to  pick  up  things  and  hold  his  head  up  between  three 
and  four  months;  fourth,  he  will  begin  to  stand  if  he  has 
something  to  hold  on  to,  between  ten  and  twelve  months; 
and  he  will  begin  to  walk  when  he  is  fourteen  or  fifteen 
months  old.  (Repeat  this  summary.) 


Lesson  9 

BATHING  THE  BABY 

Every  baby  should  be  washed  all  over  once  a day  in 
winter  as  well  as  summer.  They  need  this  because  it  is 
very  important  to  keep  the  skin  free  from  perspiration 
(sweat),  which  dries  on  him,  and  every  baby  perspires  a 
great  deal  in  the  summer. 

Until  a baby  is  three  or  four  weeks  old,  he  must  be  bathed 
on  the  mother’s  lap  or  on  a blanket  placed  on  the  bed. 
After  this  age  he  should  be  bathed  in  a small  tub  contain- 
ing warm  water.  Wash  him  well,  but  gently,  with  a soft 
wash-rag  and  ivory  or  castile  soap. 

In  cold  weather  the  bath  must  be  given  in  the  warmest 
room  in  the  house,  and  the  tub  must  be  placed  in  a warm 
corner,  where  no  air  from  the  door  or  window  can  blow  on 
the  baby. 

If  you  do  not  have  a baby’s  bath  tub,  a large  dishpan 
makes  a good  tub  and  costs  very  little.  But  such  a tub 
should  be  used  for  nothing  else  but  the  baby’s  bath. 

A soap  box  makes  a good  stand  on  which  to  put  the  tub 
or  pan,  and  then  the  mother  or  “little  mother”  can  sit 
down  while  she  bathes  the  baby. 


35 


Parts  of  a clean,  old  gauze  undershirt,  sewed  together 
in  a pad  somewhat  like  an  iron-holder,  makes  a soft  wash- 
rag  which  won’t  scratch  or  hurt  the  baby’s  tender  skin. 
This  wash-cloth  should  be  boiled  after  each  bath  and  then 
dried  thoroughly,  if  possible,  in  the  air  and  sunshine. 

The  best  towels  for  the  baby  are  the  old  soft  ones. 
Pieces  of  old  white  tablecloths  cut  and  hemmed  like  towels 
make  good  towels  for  a baby’s  tender  skin. 

Remember  to  have  a towel  or  blanket  to  put  across  your 
knees  if  you  bathe  the  baby  on  your  lap,  or  to  lay  on  the 
bed  if  you  place  him  there.  Ivory  or  castile  soap  is  the 
best  kind  to  use.  A cake  will  last  a long  time.  It  should 
be  kept  in  a clean  saucer  and  put  away  after  each  bath, 
so  that  it  will  keep  clean.  Very  little  soap  is  needed  for 
cleaning  a baby’s  skin  and  it  is  most  important  that  the 
skin  be  thoroughly  rinsed. 

The  best  powder  to  use  is  called  “Talcum.”  It  can  be 
bought  at  any  drug  store  by  the  ounce.  You  can  get  a tin 
pepper  shaker  with  holes  in  the  top  and  put  the  powder 
in  the  shaker.  This  plain  talcum  powder  is  much  cheaper 
and  better  and  purer  than  the  kind  that  comes  in  fancy 
boxes  and  smells  of  flowers,  because  those  smells  or  per- 
fumes often  are  not  made  from  flowers  at  all,  but  from 
drugs  which  may  injure  the  baby’s  skin. 

The  baby  should  have  a clean  set  of  clothes  at  least 
every  other  day  to  put  on  after  the  bath.  Even  if  the 
clothes  are  not  ironed  they  should  be  washed  often,  so  that 
the  baby  can  have  a clean  set  at  least  every  other  day. 

Before  you  begin  to  bathe  the  baby  be  sure  to  get  every- 
thing you  will  need  for  the  bath  ready  and  place  on  a 
chair  or  table  just  where  you  can  put  your  hand  on  it 
easily.  Get  the  tub  of  water  ready,  the  towels,  the  wash- 
cloth, soap,  powder,  the  blanket  on  which  to  lay  the  baby 
while  he  is  being  dried,  and  the  clean  clothes  you  are  going 
to  put  on  him. 

The  water  should  be  nice  and  warm,  but  not  too  hot. 
The  best  way  to  tell  whether  it  is  not  too  hot  is  to  put  your 

36 


elbow  in  it.  If  it  burns  your  elbow  it  is  much  too  hot  for 
the  baby.  If  it  feels  just  pleasantly  warm  to  your  elbow, 
but  not  hot,  then  it  is  all  right  for  the  baby. 

When  the  baby  is  put  into  the  tub,  his  shoulders  and 
head  should  rest  on  your  left  arm,  while  you  wash  the  baby 
with  your  right  hand,  beginning  with  the  face  and  head  and 
ending  with  the  toes.  A baby  should  never  be  left  alone 
for  one  second  in  the  tub;  he  might  slip  down  into  the 
water  and  drown,  or  he  might  upset  the  tub.  After  the 
bath  the  baby  should  be  lifted  on  to  a clean  blanket  or 
towel  which  has  been  spread  on  your  lap,  or  placed  on  the 
bed,  and  dried  with  a soft  towel.  In  cold  weather  the 
blanket  and  towel  should  be  warmed  a little.  It  is  very 
important  to  get  the  baby  quite  dry,  especially  under  the 
arms,  and  between  the  legs.  When  he  is  quite  dry  powder 
may  be  dusted  into  the  folds  where  the  legs  join  the  body 
and  where  the  diaper  will  touch  him.  This  keeps  the 
diaper  from  rubbing  the  skin,  but  powder  should  not  be 
put  on  too  thick.  When  the  skin  is  dry  and  powdered  and 
the  clothes  are  put  on,  the  mother  must  be  sure  that  the 
baby’s  hair  is  dry.  It  is  not  necessary  to  wash  the  hair 
every  day  in  winter,  but  in  summer  this  should  be  done. 
The  washing  and  drying  of  the  baby’s  head  must  be  done 
most  gently  so  as  not  to  injure  it. 

The  important  things  to  remember  about  the  baby’s  bath 
are:  That  he  must  be  bathed  every  day  all  over  (in  winter 
his  hair  need  be  washed  only  three  or  four  times  a week, 
but  in  summer  every  day) ; that  he  must  be  perfectly  dried 
before  the  powder  is  dusted  on;  that  he  should  have  a 
clean  set  of  clothes  at  least  every  other  day;  that  the  bath- 
tub, soap,  wash-cloth  and  towels  must  be  used  for  the  baby 
only  and  must  be  kept  clean;  that  the  wash-cloth  must  be 
boiled  after  each  bath;  that  the  water  for  the  bath  must 
not  be  too  hot,  and  that  the  baby  must  never  be  left  alone 
in  the  tub. 


37 


Lesson  10 


CLOTHING 

The  baby’s  clothes  should  be  plain,  warm,  light,  loose 
and  soft. 

Plain  clothes  are  the  best  for  the  baby,  as  they  are  much 
easier  to  keep  clean  than  fancy  clothes.  A baby  dressed 
in  plain  clean  clothes  looks  very  much  better  than  one 
dressed  in  soiled  fancy  clothes.  Babies  are  delicate  and 
they  take  very  little  exercise — therefore,  they  must  wear 
warmer  clothes  than  grown-ups.  But  babies  must  not  be 
dressed  too  warmly,  particularly  in  the  house.  Clothes 
need  not  be  heavy  to  be  warm.  Light  cloth  loosely  woven 
is  really  warmer  than  the  closely-woven  cloths.  Knitted 
materials  of  wool  and  cotton  are  best  to  have  next  to  the 
baby’s  skin,  as  they  are  elastic,  light  and  warm  and  do 
not  irritate  the  tender  skin. 

Clothes  which  fit  loosely  are  warmer  than  tight-fitting 
clothes.  Clothes  which  bind  interfere  with  the  flow  of  the 
blood  and  with  the  movements  of  the  baby’s  arms  and  legs. 
Clothing  should  be  loose  enough  to  allow  the  baby  to  move 
his  arms  and  legs  freely  so  that  his  muscles  may  grow 
strong.  There  should  be  no  pressure  around  the  chest  or 
belly.  Tight  bands  around  the  belly  may  cause  colic  and 
vomiting. 

The  Under  should  be  used  onljy  during  the  first  few  weeks 
of  the  baby’s  life. 

The  band  is  put  on  after  the  binder  is  taken  off.  It  is 
worn  next  to  the  skin  and  it  is  used  to  keep  the  belly  warm. 
A knitted  band  is  the  best  because  it  is  elastic  and  has  no 
seams  and  has  an  open  texture.  The  band  should  have 
shoulder  straps  and  these  should  cling  close  to  the  neck 
on  the  strong  muscles.  The  band  should  have  a tab  in 
front,  to  which  the  diaper  should  be  pinned.  The  band 
when  put  on  this  way  stays  in  place  and  will  not  ride  up 
around  the  chest. 

The  undershirt  should  be  of  medium  weight  and  part 

38 


wool.  Half  wool  and  half  cotton  makes  a good  shirt.  A 
properly  fitting  shirt  should  extend  down  over  the  belly, 
have  a high  neck  and  sleeves  long  enough  to  reach  the 
hands.  A baby  should  be  handled  as  little  as  possible.  For 
this  reason,  the  undershirt  should  open  all  the  way  down  the 
front  and  should  be  fastened  with  small  flat  buttons. 

It  is  a very  common  mistake  to  make  the  baby  wear  too 
heavy  an  undershirt.  This  keeps  his  skin  constantly  moist, 
and  the  shirt  damp  with  perspiration,  and  as  a result  he 
is  apt  to  catch  cold  if  taken  out  of  doors  or  into  a cool 
room. 

The  most  important  parts  of  the  baby  to  keep  warm  are 
the  feet  ana  legs,  which  should  always  be  well  covered. 

Socks  should  be  of  knitted  worsted  and  loose  enough  to 
fit  easily.  Remember  that  they  should  be  worn  from  the 
very  first  day  of  life. 

Long  stockings  must  be  put  on  the  baby  just  as  soon 
as  his  clothes  are  shortened,  and  they  should  come  well 
above  the  knee,  and  be  pinned  to  the  diaper,  and  not 
fastened  by  a piece  of  string  or  rubber  elastic  around  the 
baby’s  leg.  These  interfere  with  the  flow  of  the  blood  and 
make  the  baby’s  feet  cold.  It  is  most  important  for  “little 
mothers’’  to  remember  that  the  baby’s  legs  must  always  be 
covered  with  stockings.  The  stockings  should  be  made  of 
wool  in  winter.  Cotton  stockings  may  be  worn  in  summer. 
Well-made  stockings  have  a wide  toe.  They  should  never 
crowd  the  baby’s  toes  together.  Always  be  sure  that  the 
inside  of  the  stocking  is  smooth  and  contains  no  knots  or 
wrinkles.  White  stockings  are  better  than  colored  ones. 
The  colored  stockings  often  contain  poisonous  dyes. 

A baby’s  feet  are  very  soft  and  fat;  therefore,  their 
shoes  should  be  soft.  The  soles  of  the  shoes  should  have 
the  natural  shape  of  the  foot  and  not  be  simply  straight. 
There  should  be  a right  and  a left  shoe.  The  toe  of  the 
shoes  should  be  wider  than  the  heel,  and  should  extend  a 
little  beyond  the  baby’s  toes,  giving  them  plenty  of  room, 
while  the  shoe  should  fit  snugly  at  the  heel  and  instep. 


39 


Laced  shoes  are  much  better  than  button  shoes  because  they 
can  be  made  to  fit  the  foot  more  accurately,  and  give  better 
support  to  the  ankle.  The  button  shoe,  however,  may  be 
made  to  fit  if  the  mother  will  take  the  trouble  to  move  the 
buttons  if  they  need  it.  As  the  child  begins  to  walk,  the 
soles  of  the  shoes  must  be  thicker,  especially  at  the  heel. 
Soft-soled  shoes  may  do  harm  if  worn  at  this  time. 

The  petticoat  for  winter  should  be  made  of  white  flannel, 
with  a loose  muslin  waist  open  in  the  back,  and  arm  holes, 
but  no  sleeves.  It  should  hang  from  the  shoulders,  and 
should  fasten  with  two  small  flat  buttons.  The  petticoat 
should  be  27  inches  long,  from  shoulder  seam  to  bottom. 
It  should  reach  about  six  inches  below  the  feet.  If  the  skirts 
are  made  too  long  they  will  prevent  the  baby  from  kicking 
his  legs,  and  getting  the  exercise  he  needs. 

The  dress,  or  “slip,”  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  may  be 
made  of  muslin.  The  opening  in  the  back  must  be  long 
enough  so  that  it  can  be  put  on  and  taken  off  easily.  No 
starch  should  be  put  in  the  baby’s  dress. 

A bib  is  a useful  article,  as  it  catches  the  saliva  running 
from  the  baby’s  mouth  and  keeps  his  dress  dry.  This  bib 
should  be  made  of  padded  cotton,  quilted. 

Rompers  made  of  blue  or  pink  checkered  gingham  are 
jseful  for  the  older  babies,  as  they  allow  more  freedom  for 
;xercising  the  legs  than  regular  clothes  do.  Seersucker, 
which  does  not  require  ironing,  may  be  used. 

The  baby  must  be  provided  with  a warm  woolen  cloak. 
If  the  cloak  is  long  enough  it  may  be  turned  up  at  the 
bottom  and  buttoned,  making  a bag,  in  order  to  keep  the 
feet  warm. 

Warm  knitted  leggings  and  a sweater  will  be  very  use- 
ful in  the  winter  time,  especially  the  leggings.  They  pro- 
tect the  legs  when  the  baby  is  out  of  doors.  Knitted  leg- 
gings are  better  for  children  than  leather  ones. 

When  the  weather  is  cold  the  baby  needs  a warm  cap 
to  come  down  over  the  ears,  and  tie  under  the  chin. 

Knitted  mittens  are  necessary  in  order  to  keep  the 


40 


baby’s  hands  warm.  Mittens  without  thumbs  are  warmer 
for  very  little  babies. 

All  clothing  must  be  completely  changed  at  night  and 

the  baby  dressed  in  a fresh  band,  diaper,  shirt  and  night 
slip.  The  night  slip  may  be  made  of  knitted  cotton  ma- 
terial, of  medium  weight,  or  it  may  be  made  of  white  outing 
flannel.  The  night  gown  should  be  longer  than  the  day 
dress  and  very  roomy,  and  it  should  have  a drawing  string 
at  the  bottom  so  as  to  protect  the  feet  in  case  the  baby  kicks 
off  the  bed  covers  during  the  night. 

What  does  the  mother  mean  when  she  says  “I  have 
shortened  my  baby”?  She  means  that  she  has  made  his 
dress  and  petticoats  shorter — that  is,  instead  of  reaching 
six  inches  below  the  feet,  the  skirts  reach  to  the  shoe  tops 
only.  In  addition  the  mother  puts  very  long  stockings  on 
the  baby.  The  clothes  are  usually  shortened  when  the  baby 
is  six  months  old,  although  this  depends  a good  deal  on  the 
time  of  the  year.  In  summer  the  clothes  are  shortened 
before  the  baby  is  six  months  old,  while  during  the  cold 
weather  the  shortening  should  be  put  off  until  he  is  eight 
months  old. 

Do  not  rub  the  soap  on  the  woolens;  make  a suds  of 
Ivory  soap  and  wash  the  woolens  in  this,  but  be  careful  not 
to  rub  them,  rinse  them  in  water  of  the  same  temperature, 
then  squeeze  them  gently,  and  shake  and  pull  them  into 
shape  and  dry.  Do  not  wring  them,  for  this  breaks  the 
fibers  of  wool  and  makes  them  shrink. 

The  baby  must  always  be  kept  in  clean  clothes,  as  a 
baby  in  dirty  clothes  will  sooner  or  later  be  a sick  one. 
Because  babies  soil  their  clothes  so  quickly  it  is  necessary 
to  have  several  sets  of  clothing  in  order  that  the  mother 
may  have  clean  dry  clothes  ready  to  put  on  when  needed. 

(The  price  of  articles  advised  should  be  stated  by  the 
teacher.) 


4i 


Lesson  11 

DRESSING 

Before  you  dress  the  baby  be  sure  that  his  clothes 
are  perfectly  dry.  They  should  be  aired  and  warmed 
before  they  are  put  on. 

Of  course  there  is  a right  and  a wrong  way  of  put- 
ting clothes  on  the  baby,  and  you  should  learn  the  right 
way.  One  of  the  first  things  to  remember  in  dressing  the 
baby  is  something  very  important — do  not  handle  the  baby 
more  than  is  absolutely  necessary.  Some  mothers  turn 
their  babies  from  one  side  to  the  other,  or  roll  them  over 
and  over  so  many  times  while  dressing  them  that  the  poor 
baby  becomes  very  tired,  and  the  mother  wonders  why  he 
is  so  cross  and  fretful.  If  you  learn  the  right  way  you 
can  dress  the  baby  by  turning  him  only  twice.  (Demon- 
strate the  method.) 

Place  the  baby  on  his  back  on  the  bed.  The  first 
article  of  clothing  to  put  on  is  the  knitted  band.  Slip  this 
over  the  feet,  and  carefully  raise  first  one  arm  and  then  the 
other,  and  put  them  into  the  arm-holes.  Do  not  try  to 
jerk  the  arm  up  suddenly,  and  never  try  to  force  the  baby’s 
arm  into  a band  which  is  too  small,  as  in  this  way  you  may 
hurt  him  seriously.  This  band,  as  you  see,  is  large  enough 
to  slip  the  arm  through  easily.  Now  we  will  pull  down 
into  the  proper  place  the  band,  making  sure  that  the  stom- 
ach is  well  covered.  The  back  of  the  band,  you  see,  can 
be  pulled  down  by  reaching  under  the  baby — it  is  not 
necessary  to  turn  him. 

The  next  article  of  clothing  to  put  on  is  the  diaper, 
which  you  must  put  on  and  pin  exactly  as  you  are  taught. 
This  is  so  important  that  we  will  tell  you  how  to  put  on 
and  care  for  the  diaper  as  soon  as  we  have  told  you  how 
to  put  on  the  rest  of  the  clothing. 

Now  comes  the  shirt.  Spread  the  shirt  out  on  the 
bed,  place  the  baby  on  his  back  on  the  shirt,  then  draw 
forward  first  one  side  and  then  the  other,  carefully  putting 


\ 


42 


the  arms  through  the  sleeves.  You  do  not  put  the  baby’s 
arm  through  the  entire  length  of  the  sleeve  at  once.  Instead 
you  gather  the  whole  sleeve  between  the  thumb  and  the 
fingers  of  your  hand,  like  this,  and  slip  it  over  the  baby’s 
hands;  then  it  can  be  easily  drawn  up  over  the  aim.  Put 
on  the  other  sleeve  in  exactly  the  same  manner,  then  draw 
the  two  sides  of  the  front  of  the  shirt  over  the  baby’s  chest, 
and  button  the  shirt,  pulling  it  into  position  just  as  you  did 
the  band.  You  must  be  careful  not  to  have  any  wrinkles 
as  they  are  apt  to  hurt  the  baby’s  delicate  skin. 

The  stockings  should  be  put  on  in  the  same  way  as  the 
sleeves  of  the  shirt,  by  gathering  up  the  length  of  the  leg 
between  the  thumb  and  fingers  and  slipping  it  over  the  foot, 
then  drawing  it  up  over  the  leg.  Remember  that  the  stock- 
ings should  be  long  enough  to  come  well  over  the  knees,  and 
that  they  should  be  pinned  to  the  diaper.  It  is  best  to  pin 
them  on  both  sides  of  the  leg,  then  they  cannot  possibly  slip 
down  and  leave  the  leg  bare  between  the  diaper  and  the 
stocking. 

Next,  put  on  the  shoes,  and  be  very  careful  to  put  the 
right  shoe  on  the  right  foot.  Shoes  should  not  be  tight 
over  the  instep  or  at  the  shoe  top.  If  they  are  they  will 
stop  the  free  flow  of  blood  and  make  the  baby’s  feet  cold. 

The  petticoat  should  be  put  on  over  the  feet  as  it  dis- 
turbs the  baby  less  this  way  than  if  it  is  put  over  the  head. 
Draw  it  well  up  over  the  body,  then  put  the  baby’s  arms  in 
the  arm-holes,  gently  so  as  not  to  hurt  him,  and  tuck  the 
two  sides  of  the  waist  under  his  body.  Then  put  on  the 
dress  in  exactly  the  same  way.  The  baby  is  now  ready  to 
be  turned  over,  so  that  you  may  button  the  petticoat  and 
dress  and  pull  them  down  smoothly  and  neatly.  When  you 
place  him  on  his  back  again  you  will  have  a fully  dressed 
baby,  except  for  the  bib,  which  you  can  put  on,  as  you 
see,  without  further  turning.  The  petticoat  and  dress  may 
be  put  on  together  by  slipping  the  petticoat  into  the  dress 
first.  “Little  mothers’*  must  always  remember  that  the 
dressing  should  be  done  as  quickly  as  it  can  be  done  well. 


43 


If  the  baby  is  going  out-of-doors,  of  course,  he  will 
need  out-of-door  clothes.  The  coat  should  be  put  on  just 
as  we  did  the  shirt.  Then  we  shall  not  need  to  turn  the 
baby  again.  The  cap  must  cover  the  entire  head  and  come 
down  under  the  chin.  The  mittens  should  be  sewed  to  a 
ribbon  or  tape  long  enough  to  run  up  through  one  sleeve, 
around  the  baby’s  neck  and  down  through  the  other  sleeve, 
so  that  they  cannot  come  off.  Do  not  put  on  the  coat, 
cap  and  leggings  or  mittens  until  you  yourself  are  dressed 
to  go  out-of-doors.  Just  as  soon  as  the  baby  has  his  wraps 
on  he  should  be  taken  out. 

Remember,  there  should  be  no  pins  in  the  baby’s 
clothes  except  three  safety  pins  in  the  diaper  and  the  small 
stocking  pins.  The  shirt,  petticoat  and  dress  should  be 
fastened  by  small  flat  buttons.  The  flat  buttons  will  not 
hurt  the  baby’s  back  unless  he  lies  down  on  a hard  sur- 
face. 

Ask  your  mother  not  to  put  pieces  of  flannel  around 
the  baby’s  chest.  His  clothes  are  all  that  he  needs.  The 
pieces  of  flannel  may  make  the  baby  perspire  (sweat), 
which  would  make  him  more  likely  to  take  cold  when  he 
goes  out-of-doors  or  into  a cool  room. 

Good  “Little  mothers’’  when  they  find  the  baby’s 
clothes  becoming  too  tight  for  him,  will  make  it  their  busi- 
ness to  move  the  buttons,  so  that  none  of  the  clothes  will 
bind  his  little  body. 

The  clothes  should  be  loose,  so  as  not  to  prevent  the 
baby  from  moving  freely.  A tight  binder,  for  instance, 
will  prevent  the  lungs  from  expanding  properly,  or  it  may 
squeeze  the  stomach  so  as  to  cause  the  baby  to  vomit. 
Remember,  too,  that  loose  clothes  are  warmer  than  tight 
ones. 

Keep  the  baby’s  clothes  neatly  folded  in  a drawer 
and  do  all  you  can  to  keep  them  mended  and  in  good 
order. 


44 


Lesson  12 
BABY’S  DIAPERS 

How  to  Put  Them  On — How  to  Take  Care  of  Diapers 

The  diaper  is  one  of  the  most  important  things  the 
baby  wears.  A wise  mother  will  always  keep  a good  sup- 
ply of  clean  diapers  on  hand,  as  one  can  never  tell  when 
the  baby  will  need  more  than  the  usual  number.  There 
should  be  not  less  than  a dozen,  and  if  possible,  two  dozen. 

Get  good  diaper  cloth.  The  best  is  of  cotton  called 
“bird’s-eye.”  This  is  the  best  because  it  is  soft  and  stands 
washing  well.  Some  people  use  canton  flannel,  but  it  is  not 
so  good.  It  gets  hard  and  rough  after  a few  washings.  Old 
linens,  such  as  table  cloths,  are  very  soft,  and  make  gpod 
diapers. 

A diaper  must  be  of  the  right  size  and  have  the  right 
shape.  It  should  be  oblong  and  twice  as  long  as  it  is  wide. 
Most  babies  will  need  a diaper  which  is  40  inches  long  and 
20  inches  wide.  Bird’s-eye  comes  20  inches  wide  and  is 
sold  by  the  piece,  so  that  ten  yards  in  the  piece  would  be 
enough  to  make  nine  diapers,  20  by  40  inches. 

If  the  diapers  are  made  from  cotton  bird’s-eye,  the 
material  should  be  washed  before  it  is  cut,  otherwise  the 
diapers  may  shrink  after  they  are  made  and  then  be  too 
small  for  the  baby. 

Clean  diapers  should  be  neatly  folded  and  placed  in  a 
drawer  in  the  bureau  or  wash-stand,  or  in  a box  with  a lid, 
in  which  nothing  else  is  kept.  Never  place  them  on  the 
floor  or  let  them  remain  uncovered,  and  never  use  them  for 
anything  but  the  baby. 

“Little  mothers”  must  remember  that  babies  are  not 
dolls.  They  are  very  delicate  and  must  be  handled  very 
gently  or  they  will  be  injured  in  some  way.  In  taking 
care  of  the  baby,  the  less  he  is  handled  the  better.  In  put- 
ting on  a diaper  it  is  not  necessary  to  turn  the  baby  first  on 
one  side  and  then  on  the  other.  He  should  not  be  turned 
at  all. 


45 


Changing  the  Baby’s  Diaper 

A great  deal  of  harm  may  come  to  the  baby  if  the 
diaper  is  not  changed  as  soon  as  it  is  wet  or  soiled.  If 
soiled  or  wet  diapers  are  allowed  to  remain  on  the  baby, 
the  skin  under  the  diaper  will  usually  become  red,  and  break 
out  in  sores  that  give  the  poor  baby  a great  deal  of  pain 
and,  of  course,  make  him  cry. 

Each  diaper  must  be  absolutely  clean  when  put  on  the 
baby.  And  the  baby  must  be  clean!  Some  peoplje  hang 
the  wet  diaper  up  to  dry  and  put  it  on  the  baby  again 
without  washing.  This  should  never  be  done. 

As  soon  as  the  wet  diaper  is  removed  it  should  be 
placed  in  a bucket  containing  water,  and  the  bucket  should 
be  covered  with  a lid  to  keep  out  the  flies.  Soiled  diapers 
should  first  be  rinsed  and  then  placed  in  a bucket  of  water. 
This  bucket  containing  the  diapers  should  be  kept  in  the 
bath  room  or  yard. 

A square  of  old  cotton,  such  as  old  soft  sheeting,  old 
bath  towels  or  cotton  underwear,  laid  inside  of  a diaper, 
makes  the  washing  of  soiled  diapers  much  easier.  The 
square  of  cotton  should  be  burned  after  using  once.  If  this 
extra  square  of  cloth  is  not  used,  the  soiled  matter  on  the 
soiled  diaper  may  be  washed  over  the  bowl  of  the  water 
closet  or  removed  by  pieces  of  paper. 

After  removing  a solid  diaper,  the  parts  must  be 
carefully  wiped  with  soft  paper  and  then  thoroughly  washed. 
The  soft  cloth,  basin  and  warm  water  used  must  be  clean. 
The  parts  must  then  be  thoroughly  dried,  especially  the  folds 
of  the  skin,  before  a clean  diaper  is  put  on. 

Diapers  should  be  thoroughly  washed  once  each  day 
with  pure  white  soap,  and  rinsed  well  in  two  or  three 
changes  of  water.  They  should  then  be  boiled  for  fifteen 
minutes  to  kill  all  germs  which  may  be  on  them.  Some 
bad  diseases  are  carried  to  babies  by  using  diapers  which 
have  not  been  boiled.  Soda  should  not  be  put  in  the  water 
used  for  washing,  as  soda  will  stick  to  the  diapers  and  will 
irritate  the  baby’s  delicate  skin. 

46 


Diapers  should  be  carefully  dried.  The  best  way  to 
dry  them  is  to  hang  them  out  of  doors  in  the  sunlight.  They 
should  not  be  put  away  in  the  drawer  or  wherever  they  are 
kept  until  they  are  absolutely  dry.  Never  put  a damp 
diaper  on  the  baby. 

How  to  Pet  a Diaper  on  a Baby 

Crying  is  frequently  caused  by  something  being  wrong 
with  the  diaper.  Sometimes  it  may  be  put  on  too  tight, 
or  a safety  pin  may  be  open  and  sticking  into  the  baby.  So 
watch  carefully  to  see  how  the  diaper  is  put  on.  This  is 
important  because  many  infants  are  hurt  by  diapers  which 
are  put  on  the  wrong  way.  If  you  know  the  right  way 
and  see  a baby  crying,  whose  diaper  has  been  put  on  the 
wrong  way,  you  will  know  at  once  why  he  is  crying. 

In  winter  the  clean  diaper  should  be  warmed  before 
it  is  put  on  the  baby  because  a cold  diaper  may  chill  him. 

The  diaper  should  be  folded  carefully  once,  making  it 
into  a square;  this  square  is  then  folded  diagonally,  which 
will  form  a triangle. 

Place  the  baby  on  the  bed  on  his  back,  and  slip  the 
diaper,  which  has  been  folded  evenly  in  the  three-cornered 
fashion,  under  the  hips,  with  the  long  side  of  the  triangle 
up  so  that  the  ends  may  easily  reach  around  the  stomach. 
Then  draw  the  right-hand  corner  of  the  diaper  over  the 
right  hip  and  groin,  and  hold  it  in  this  position  with  the  left 
hand.  Now  draw  the  left  comer  of  the  diaper  over  the  left 
hip  and  groin;  then  tuck  the  ends  between  the  legs.  Next 
draw  the  remaining  corner  up  between  the  legs  and  pin 
the  whole  firmly  to  the  band.  With  two  small  safety  pins 
fasten  the  diaper  together  just  above  the  knees  on  the 
inner  side  of  the  thighs,  being  careful  not  to  make  it  too 
tight  around  the  legs. 

The  diaper  must  not  be  pinned  too  tight  around  the 
baby’s  stomach.  It  should  be  loose  enough  to  allow  the 
fingers  to  slip  under  it  easily.  If  it  is  too  tight,  it  will  hurt 
the  baby  and  it  may  make  him  vomit;  it  will  also  prevent 


47 


the  baby  from  moving  his  legs  freely.  If  his  muscles  are  to 
grow  strong  he  must  be  able  to  move  freely.  Another  thing 
you  should  be  careful  about  is  to  see  that  a large  bunch  of 
diaper  does  not  come  between  the  baby’s  legs,  for  a thick 
wad  of  diaper  will  force  the  legs  apart  and  make  the  baby 
bow-legged.  In  putting  on  a diaper  never  cover  it  with 
rubber  cloth  or  any  other  water-proof  material.  It  is  very 
bad  for  the  skin  as  it  acts  like  a poultice,  making  it  hot  and 
moist. 

Mothers  would  save  themselves  much  work  if  they 
would  take  the  trouble  to  teach  their  babies  clean  habits, 
by  training  them  to  use  a small  chamber  instead  of  the 
diaper.  “Little  mothers’’  can  be  of  real  help  in  training 
the  baby.  He  should  be  held  over  a small  chamber  at 
exactly  the  same  hours  each  day,  beginning  at  about  the 
third  month,  or  as  soon  as  he  is  able  to  hold  up  his  head. 
The  best  time  to  choose  is  just  after  a morning  and  an  even- 
ing feeding.  If  faithfully  trained  in  this  way,  the  baby  will 
not  have  to  wear  a diaper  at  night  after  the  first  year  and 
not  at  all  when  he  is  two  years  old. 


Lesson  13 

BREAST  FEEDING 

When  you  have  been  taking  care  of  your  little 
brothers  or  sisters,  have  you  ever  stopped  to  think  how 
helpless  they  are?  What  would  they  do  if  you  and  your 
mother  should  desert  them?  Unless  some  one  should 
happen  to  find  them  they  would  die  of  thirst  and  starva- 
tion. But  because  you  love  them  you  not  only  do  not 
desert  them,  but  gladly  do  everything  in  your  power  to 
make  them  comfortable  and  happy. 

Every  living  creature  is  helpless  when  it  comes  into  the 
world,  but  it  has  some  one  to  love  and  care  for  it.  The 
little  birds,  when  they  first  break  through  their  shells,  are 
so  weak  that  they  can  do  nothing  more  than  open  their 

43 


mouths,  but  their  mothers  love  them  and  spend  their  time 
in  keeping  them  warm  and  gathering  food  to  put  into  their 
open  mouths.  When  little  kittens  first  come  into  the  world 
they  cannot  even  see,  and  have  not  strength  enough  to 
move  about,  but  their  mothers  who  love  them  protect  them 
and  nurse  them  from  their  breasts.  So  it  is  also  with  your 
little  baby  brothers  and  sisters.  When  they  first  come  into 
the  world  they  can  scarcely  see  and  scarcely  move,  and  their 
mothers  love  and  protect  them  and  feed  them  from  their 
breasts.  It  is  about  this  breast  feeding  that  we  want  to 
talk  to  you,  because  it  is  the  most  important  thing  in  the 
life  of  a baby. 

The  doctors  tell  us  that  there  are  two  ways  of  feeding 
babies.  One  is  on  milk  from  the  mother’s  breast,  which 
is  the  way  God  intended  babies  to  be  fed;  and  the  other 
is  on  cow’s  milk,  mixed  with  water,  and  given  from  a bottle. 

Cow’s  milk  should  never  be  given  to  any  baby  whose 
mother  can  nurse  it  from  her  breast.  And  why  is  this?  you 
ask.  The  answer  is  very  simple.  It  is  because  there  is 
only  one  breast-fed  baby  that  dies  to  every  five  that  are  fed 
on  cow’s  milk  from  a bottle.  In  other  words,  every  breast- 
fed baby  has  five  times  as  good  a chance  of  growing  up  as 
has  the  bottle-fed  baby.  Remember  these  figures;  very 
few  people  know  them.  There  are  many  people  in  the 
world  who  will  tell  you  that  it  is  all  right  to  take  the  baby 
from  the  breast  and  give  it  some  other  food,  especially  the 
people  who  make  the  patent  foods.  They  have  to  do  this  in 
order  to  make  money.  If  all  mothers  would  nurse  their 
babies,  they  could  not  sell  the  stuff  that  they  will  tell  you 
is  as  good  as  breast  milk.  Sometimes  mothers  who  have 
been  lucky  enough  to  bring  their  babies  up  on  cow’s  milk 
will  tell  other  mothers  to  stop  the  breast  feeding  and  give 
their  babies  cow’s  milk.  They  do  not  know  that  they  are 
really  telling  these  mothers  to  give  their  babies  five  times 
as  many  chances  of  dying  before  they  grow  up;  they  would 
not  dare  to  tell  them  if  they  did.  The  reason  that  we  know 
that  so  many  bottle-fed  babies  die  is  because  the  doctors 


49 


find  out  how  many  babies  die  in  the  city  in  the  year,  and 
how  many  of  them  are  nursed  by  their  mothers  and  how 
many  of  them  are  fed  on  the  bottle. 

We  are  sure  that  you  know  that  mother’s  milk  is  better 
for  little  babies  than  cow’s  milk,  and  we  want  you  to  help 
us  to  tell  this  to  the  mothers  who  do  not  know  it.  If  your 
mother  or  any  other  baby’s  mother  wants  to  give  up  the 
breast  feeding  of  her  baby,  ask  her  if  she  knows  how  many 
more  bottle-fed  babies  die  than  breast-fed  babies,  and  ask 
her  if  she  knows  that  nearly  all  of  the  many  babies  that  die 
of  summer  complaint  are  bottle-fed  babies.  If  she  does 
not,  tell  her,  and  if  she  does  not  believe  you,  tell’ her  to  ask 
any  doctor  or  nurse,  and  she  will  surely  find  that  what  you 
say  is  true.  We  also  want  you  to  know  and  to  tell  all  the 
mothers  you  know  that  the  baby  that  is  nursed  by  its  mother 
must  be  nursed  in  the  right  way  if  it  is  to  keep  well,  and 
that  the  mother  must  take  good  care  of  herself  if  she  wants 
to  have  good  milk  and  enough  for  it.  She  must  get  plenty 
of  sleep  and  much  fresh  air  in  her  room.  She  must  not 
worry  or  get  excited;  she  must  eat  three  good  meals  a day 
and  try  to  have  a glass  of  milk  with  each  meal.  She  must 
drink  plenty  of  water,  5 or  6 glasses  every  day,  but  she 
must  never  drink  tea,  coffee,  beer,  wine  or  whiskey.  She 
should  try  to  get  out  of  doors  every  day,  and  if  she  feels 
sick  at  any  time  she  should  see  a doctor  at  once. 

The  baby  must  be  nursed  regularly  by  the  clock.  You 
could  not  remember  all  the  hours  at  which  the  baby  should 
be  nursed  at  different  ages  if  you  were  told,  but  you  can 
read  them  in  any  book  on  the  care  of  the  baby,  and  learn 
them  by  heart,  or  you  can  ask  a doctor  or  nurse.  But  be 
sure  to  remember  that  the  feeding  must  be  regular,  and  not 
when  it  suits  the  mother,  or  whenever  the  baby  cries. 
Irregular  feeding  hours  upset  the  baby’s  stomach  and  spoil 
the  mother’s  milk. 

If  a mother  has  to  work  during  the  day  she  will 
usually  give  up  the  breast  feeding,  and  give  the  baby  the 
bottle.  It  is  not  necessary  to  give  up  the  breast  feeding 


50 


altogether.  Some  bottles  will  have  to  be  given  when  the 
mother  is  out,  but  the  baby  should  have  the  breast  three 
times  a day — when  the  mother  comes  home,  when  she  goes 
to  bed,  and  when  she  gets  up.  This  little  bit  of  breast 
feeding  will  often  save  the  baby’s  life. 

When  the  breast  milk  gets  scanty,  a mother  should 
not  stop  the  breast  feeding.  Let  her  keep  up  the  breast  so 
that  the  baby  can  get  all  the  milk  that  she  has  to  give,  and 
have  the  doctor  tell  her  how  much  and  what  strength  of 
cow‘s  milk  to  give  in  addition. 

The  most  important  thing  of  all  to  remember,  however, 
is  that  five  times  as  many  of  the  babies  fed  on  the  bottle 
die  as  those  fed  on  breast  milk. 


Lesson  14 

THE  BOTTLE-FED  BABY 

You  are  now  going  to  learn  how  to  make  up  the 
feedings  for  the  poor  little  baby  who  is  so  unfortunate  as 
to  be  fed  from  a bottle.  The  best  kind  of  a nursing  bottle 
is  a round  tube-like  bottle  having  straight  sides,  no  corners 
and  a wide  neck  so  that  it  can  be  easily  washed.  A single 
size  holding  eight  ounces  is  the  best  to  buy,  as  it  will  be 
large  enough  as  long  as  the  baby  is  bottle  fed.  A nursing 
bottle,  with  a long  rubber  tube,  should  never  be  used 
under  any  circumstances;  it  is  impossible  to  clean  the  inside 
of  the  tube,  and  the  poor  baby  fed  from  such  a bottle  is 
almost  sure  to  develop  summer  complaint  and  die.  The  best 
nipple  is  one  having  a conical  shape,  as  it  can  be  easily 
turned  inside  out  and  washed.  Now  let  us  play  that  you 
are  preparing  the  baby’s  feeding  for  today.  You  have  a 
bottle  of  fresh  milk,  which  has  just  come  from  the  milk 
man.  Wash  the  bottle  by  holding  it  under  running  water, 
before  placing  it  in  the  refrigerator.  If  you  have  one  of 
the  home-made  refrigerators,  which  you  will  learn  how 
to  make,  in  which  you  can  keep  the  milk  all  day  with  three 

5i 


cents’  worth  of  ice,  remember  that  the  inner  tin  can  must 
be  lifted  out  and  thoroughly  cleansed  every  day. 

Everything  which  comes  in  contact  with  the  baby’s 
milk  must  be  absolutely  clean,  that  is,  they  must  be  free 
from  all  germs.  This  perfect  cleanliness  can  only  be  had 
by  boiling  every  pitcher,  spoon,  bottle,  etc.,  that  the  milk 
will  touch.  The  things  you  will  use  in  making  up  the  baby’s 
feedings  are  the  following:  Enough  nursing  bottles  for 

all  the  feedings  for  a day  (about  eight),  a nipple  for  each 
bottle,  a jar  to  hold  the  water  which  has  been  boiled  to  use 
in  making  the  milk  mixture,  a mason  jar  for  the  milk  sugar, 
a two-quart  pitcher  to  mix  the  milk  in,  an  enameled  funnel, 
a spoon,  a fork,  as  many  corks  as  there  are  bottles  and  a 
piece  of  cheesecloth  to  wipe  off  the  neck  of  the  milk  bottle 
before  the  milk  is  poured  out  of  the  bottle.  After  washing 
each  of  these  articles  with  soap  and  water  and  thoroughly 
rinsing  them,  place  them  in  the  large  kettle  on  the  fire. 

They  should  boil  actively  for  at  least  fifteen  minutes. 
Imagine  that  you  have  boiled  these  for  fifteen  minutes. 
Now  take  them  from  the  fire  and  pour  off  the  hot  water 
so  they  will  cool  more  rapidly,  as  you  will  need  to  use  them 
at  once.  Put  the  nipples  in  a jar  of  boric  acid  solution, 
which  you  have  made  up,  fresh,  by  dissolving  two  teaspoon- 
fuls of  boric  acid  powder  in  a pint  of  boiling  water.  Now 
suppose  you  have  taken  the  baby  to  see  the  doctor  so  that 
you  may  know  the  exact  right  way  to  feed  him.  Remember, 
never  ask  your  neighbor  how  to  feed  the  baby,  but  go  to  the 
doctor  and  learn  from  him  exactly  how  strong  to  make  the 
milk  mixture.  What  is  good  for  your  neighbor’s  baby  will 
probably  not  be  right  for  your  baby. 

Suppose  the  doctor  has  written  on  a piece  of  paper  the 
following  orders:  Made  up  the  following  mixture  for  Baby 

John:  Milk,  15  ounces;  boiled  water,  15  ounces;  milk 

sugar,  3 level  tablespoonfuls;  6 ounces  to  a feeding;  give 
the  baby  5 feedings  a day;  feed  the  baby  every  four  hours; 
pasteurize  the  milk  in  the  nursing  bottles. 

Remember  this  is  just  a make-believe  mixture. 


52 


Remember  also  that  the  doctor  will  change  the  mixture  from 
time  to  time,  depending  upon  the  condition  of  the  baby’s 
digestion,  and  whether  the  baby  is  gaining  weight  properly. 

Now  it  is  for  you  to  carry  out  the  make-believe  orders 
of  the  doctor.  It  is  very  important  to  give  the  baby  the 
exact  amount  ordered  by  the  doctor,  and  to  get  the  amounts 
he  ordered  exactly  right,  it  will  be  necessary  to  carefully 
measure  each  quantity.  We  will  use  a boiled  nursing  bot- 
tle which  has  ounces  marked  on  it,  and  measure  the  num- 
ber of  ounces  of  milk  and  water.  Take  the  fresh  bottle 
of  milk  from  the  ice  chest  and  wipe  off  the  top  of  the  bottle 
with  an  absolutely  clean  cloth,  that  is,  one  that  has  been 
boiled.  To  make  this  mixture  which  the  doctor  has  ordered 
it  is  necessary  to  mix  the  milk  thoroughly  in  the  bottle, 
because  of  the  cream  which  is  on  the  top  of  the  bottle.  The 
cream  can  be  well  mixed  through  the  milk  by  turning  the 
bottle  upside  down  several  times  before  removing  the  cap. 
After  carefully  washing  your  hands  with  soap  and  water 
and  a brush,  take  the  pitcher  which  has  just  been  boiled, 
out  of  the  kettle  and  place  it  on  the  table  in  front  of  you. 
You  are  now  ready  to  remove  the  cap  from  the  bottle,  and 
this  is  done  by  taking  the  boiled  fork  from  the  kettle,  and 
with  the  prong  of  the  fork,  carefully  lifting  the  cap.  Place 
the  boiled  funnel  in  the  nursing  bottle  which  we  are  going 
to  use  as  a measure,  and  pour  the  milk  through  the  funnel 
into  the  nursing  bottle  from  the  milk  bottle.  Measure  the 
15  ounces  of  milk,  as  the  doctor  has  directed  in  this  case, 
and  as  it  is  measured,  pour  it  into  the  pitcher.  After  the 
milk  has  been  measured,  next  measure  in  the  same  way  the 
15  ounces  of  water,  which  is  poured  into  the  pitcher  with 
the  milk.  Never  forget  that  all  water  for  the  use  of  the  baby 
must  be  boiled.  It  is  best  to  boil  all  the  water  for  the  baby 
the  first  thing  in  the  morning  so  as  to  give  it  a chance  to 
cool  by  the  time  you  make  up  the  baby’s  bottles.  Now 
you  are  ready  to  add  the  milk  sugar.  Measure  off  the  three 
level  tablespoonfuls,  as  directed,  and  empty  them  in  the 
pitcher  with  the  milk  and  water.  By  “level”  is  meant  a flat 


53 


tablespoonful.  Take  the  spoon  from  the  kettle  and  thor- 
oughly stir  the  mixture  in  the  pitcher. 

The  next  step  is  to  bottle  the  mixture.  As  you  see, 
there  are  five  boiled  nursing  bottles,  because  the  doctor 
has  ordered  that  this  particular  baby  be  fed  five  times  in 
24  hours.  You  will,  therefore,  take  the  five  bottles  from 
the  kettle  and  stand  them  on  the  table  in  front  of  you.  Put 
the  funnel  in  the  first  bottle  and  fill  it  from  the  pitcher  with 
die  exact  amount  which  the  doctor  has  ordered  for  each 
feeding;  in  this  case  it  is  6 ounces.  Be  very  careful  to  fil/ 
die  bottle  just  up  to  the  six  ounces  marked  on  the  bottle 
Then  repeat  this  same  procedure,  filling  and  stoppering  eaclt 
of  the  other  bottles  in  turn.  Now  to  pasteurize  the  feed 
ings.  You  must  pay  very  careful  attention  so  that  you  do 
not  forget  how  this  is  done. 

Put  one  gallon  of  boiling  water  in  a large  kettle  and 
place  the  kettle  on  a plain  wooden  table.  Allow  it  to  stand 
exactly  ten  minutes  uncovered  on  the  table.  At  the  end 
of  the  ten  minutes,  stand  the  nursing  bottles  full  of  milk  in 
the  kettle  containing  the  water.  Now  put  the  cover  on  the 
kettle  and  let  the  bottle  stand  in  this  very  hot  water  for  30 
minutes.  After  they  have  been  in  the  water  for  30  minutes 
take  them  out  and  cool  them  rapidly  by  holding  the  bottles 
under  running  water.  It  is  important  to  take  all  the  heat 
out  of  the  milk  as  quickly  as  possible.  Then  place  the 
bottles  on  ice  in  the  refrigerator. 

Enamel  and  glass  funnels  are  very  difficult  to  secure 
at  present  on  account  of  the  war,  therefore  aluminum  fun- 
nels may  be  used. 

Lesson  IS 

PROPER  FOOD  FOR  THE  BOTTLE-FED  BABY 

You  are  now  to  learn  some  other  things  about  bottle- 
fed  babies.  Remember  that  if  the  baby  must  be  fed  by  the 
bottle,  the  proper  food  is  fresh*  clean  cow’s  milk  prepared 
at  horn** 


54 


The  reason  the  baby  should  never  be  fed  on  condensed 
milk  is  because  condensed  milk  is  not  as  nutritious  as 
fresh  milk.  When  the  usual  amount  of  water  is  added  to 
the  condensed  milk,  the  mixture  which  is  made  is  too  weak 
to  properly  nourish  the  baby.  It  is  really  not  much  better 
than  a mixture  of  sugar  and  water.  Babies  fed  perma- 
nently on  condensed  milk  usually  develop  a disease  called 
rickets,  in  which  the  bones  become  soft  and  deformed, 
often  causing  such  deformities  as  bow  legs  and  knock 
knees.  A great  many  babies  fed  on  condensed  milk  develop 
marasmus — a wasting  disease  in  which  the  baby  becomes 
thinner  and  thinner,  until  there  is  almost  nothing  left  except 
skin  and  bones.  Some  mothers  use  condensed  milk  because 
they  think  it  is  cheaper  than  fresh  cow’s  milk,  but  this  is 
not  true,  as  fresh  milk  is  really  cheaper  than  condensed  milk, 
and  much  more  nourishing. 

Do  not  feed  the  baby  on  patent  foods.  Patent  foods 
consist  in  large  part  of  some  kind  of  flour,  usually  wheat 
flour.  Why  pay  a fancy  price  for  some  patent  food  when 
flour  is  so  much  cheaper?  Patent  foods  are  not  only 
expensive  but  often  harmful,  and  do  not  supply  as  nourish- 
ing a food  as  a mixture  made  from  fresh,  clean  cow’s 
milk. 

You  will  remember  that  you  made  up  the  feedings 
for  the  baby  as  directed  by  the  doctor.  You  were  taught 
to  be  very  particular  to  boil  all  the  utensils  which  the  milk 
would  touch,  and  to  carefully  measure  the  exact  quantities 
of  milk,  water  and  sugar  he  ordered.  Now  the  doctor  will 
tell  you  how  to  gradually  increase  the  quantity  of  food  to 
be  given  at  each  feeding  as  the  little  baby  grows  bigger, 
stronger  and  older.  For  instance,  a baby  one  month  old  will 
be  given  two  ounces  at  a feeding,  while  one  three  months 
old  will  be  given  four  ounces,  and  a baby  six  months  old 
will  be  given  seven  ounces  at  a feeding. 

Young  babies  are  frequently  overfed — they  are  not 
only  given  too  much  at  a time,  but  are  given  the  bottle  too 
often.  A foolish  person  has  been  known  to  give  a baby 


55 


as  young  as  one,  three  or  four  months  old  a whole  half 
pint  of  food  in  the  bottles  at  one  time.  This  would,  of 
course,  stretch  the  baby’s  tiny  stomach  so  much  that  he 
would  either  vomit  or  cry  with  colic.  How  often  should  we 
give  the  baby  the  bottle!  This  depends  upon  the  size,  age 
and  health  of  the  baby,  but  as  a general  rule  the  baby 
should  be  fed  every  three  or  four  hours.  The  most  im- 
portant thing  for  you  “Little  Mothers’’  to  remember  is  that 
the  baby  must  be  fed  regularly — that  is,  there  should  be  the 
same  length  of  time  between  each  feeding.  To  succeed 
in  feeding  the  baby  regularly  by  the  clock  it  is  necessary 
that  the  baby  be  trained  and  not  fed  every  time  he  .cries. 
The  best  plan  is  to  begin  to  train  the  baby  when  he  is  very 
young.  For  the  first  few  days,  it  will  be  necessary  to  wake 
him  up  at  the  regular  feeding  hour.  However,  you  will 
not  have  to  do  this  very  long,  for  with  regularity  of  feed- 
ing the  infant  soon  learns  to  wake  up  at  just  the  right  time 
for  the  bottle.  At  night  the  baby  must  be  allowed  to  sleep 
as  long  as  he  will,  and  if  he  is  trained  to  feed  regularly 
during  the  day  time  he  will  sleep  from  nine  or  ten  o’clock 
at  night  until  six  o’clock  in  the  morning  without  being  fed. 

Remember  to  tell  your  mother  to  ask  the  doctor  how 
to  make  up  the  baby’s  bottles — that  is,  how  much  milk, 
water  and  sugar  to  use.  This  is  very  important,  as  differ- 
ent quantities  of  milk,  water  and  sugar  are  needed  by  dif- 
ferent babies  and  by  the  same  baby  at  different  ages. 
Under  no  circumstances  allow  a neighbor  to  tell  you  how 
to  feed  the  baby.  What  may  have  been  right  for  her  baby, 
will  probably  not  be  right  for  your  baby. 

Every  “little  mother”  should  know  the  right  way  to 
give  the  baby  the  bottle.  Suppose  it  is  time  for  the  baby 
to  have  a feeding.  First  scrub  your  hands  thoroughly  with 
soap  and  water,  then  take  from  the  ice  chest  a bottle  of 
the  milk  which  was  made  up  for  the  baby  and  stand  it  in 
hot  water  so  as  to  warm  it.  Babies  should  not  be  given 
cold  milk  to  drink,  nor  on  the  other  hand  should  it  be  too 
hot.  Test  it  by  allowing  a drop  to  fall  on  the  inner  side 

56 


of  your  arm.  As  soon  as  the  milk  is  heated  shake  the  bottle 
well,  remove  the  cork  and  put  on  a clean  nipple.  In  put- 
ting the  clean  nipple  on  the  bottle  be  careful  not  to  touch 
the  end  of  the  nipple  as  it  goes  into  the  baby’s  mouth. 
Sometimes  mothers  test  nipples  by  putting  them  in  their 
mouths.  This  is  most  dangerous.  You  may  carry  the 
germs  of  diphtheria,  infantile  paralysis  or  other  contagious 
diseases  in  your  mouth  without  getting  those  diseases  your- 
self, but  by  wetting  the  nipple  in  your  mouth  you  may  give 
those  diseases  to  the  baby.  So  never  put  a nipple  in  your 
mouth  as  you  may  kill  your  baby  brother  or  sister.  The 
hole  in  the  nipple  must  be  of  the  right  size.  You  can  test 
this  by  turning  the  bottle  upside  down.  If  the  milk  comes 
out  in  drops,  the  hole  in  the  nipple  is  the  right  size.  If, 
however,  it  runs  out  in  a stream,  the  hole  is  too  large,  and 
the  baby  will  get  his  meal  too  fast,  and,  as  a result,  he  will 
often  spit  up  part  of  his  feeding.  Throw  away  any  nipple 
that  the  milk  runs  out  of.  It  is  much  cheaper  to  pay  a few 
pennies  for  a new  nipple  than  to  have  a sick  baby. 

It  is  important  that  the  baby’s  bottle  should  be  held 
while  the  baby  is  feeding.  If  it  is  not  held  the  neck  of  the 
bottle  will  not  be  kept  full  of  milk  and  the  baby  will  swallow 
air,  which  will  make  him  “spit  up’’  or  give  him  colic.  If  the 
bottle  is  not  held,  the  nipple  is  apt  to  fall  from  the  baby’s 
mouth,  which  frets  him,  prolongs  the  feeding  and  lets  the 
milk  get  cold  before  the  bottle  is  empty.  Unless  the,  baby 
is  watched  while  feeding  he  may  go  to  sleep  long  before  the 
bottle  is  empty  and  thus  not  get  enough  food  or  else  he  may 
waken  after  sleeping  a few  minutes,  suck  at  the  nipple  a 
short  time  and  then  go  to  sleep  again,  and  repeat  this  so 
often  that  instead  of  emptying  the,  bottle  in  twenty  minutes 
he  will  not  empty  it  for  an  hour.  If  this  happens  often,  it 
is  sure  to  make  the  baby  sick.  Every  little  mother  can 
help  her  own  mother  a great  deal  by  holding  the  baby’s 
bottle.  Place  the  baby  upon  its  back  on  the  bed  and  hold 
the  bottle  in  your  hand  until  it  is  emptied.  It  is  a good 
plan  to  take  the  nipple  out  of  the  baby’s  mouth  now  and 


57 


then  just  for  a minute  to  give  him  a little  rest  and  allow 
air  to  enter  the  bottle. 

The  bottle  should  be  taken  from  the  baby  as  soon  as 
it  is  emptied.  Under  no  circumstances  should  an  infant 
be  allowed  to  form  the  habit  of  sleeping  with  the  nipple  of 
the  emptied  bottle  in  his  mouth.  Throw  away  any  milk 
which  may  be  left  in  the  bottle,  and  never  use  it  the  sec- 
ond time.  After  every  feeding  the  infant  should  be  allowed 
to  lie  quietly  in  his  bed  or  coach  for  at  least  an  hour. 

As  soon  as  the  feeding  is  over  remove  the  nipple  from 
the  bottle  and  wash  it  thoroughly  with  soap  and  water, 
turning  it  inside  out  so  as  to  have  both  sides  perfectly 
clean.  It  should  then  be  put  in  a separate  glass  from  the 
nipples  which  have  been  boiled  until  the  following  morning, 
when  everything  will  be  boiled  again. 

The  bottle  must  be  rinsed  in  cold  water  as  soon  as  it  is 
emptied,  and  then  carefully  washed  with  a bottle  brush, 
hot  water  and  soap,  and  again  rinsed.  It  should  then  be 
filled  with  water  and  placed  somewhere  away  from  flies  and 
dirt  until  the  next  morning,  when  all  of  the  day’s  bottles 
to  be  filled  with  the  next  day’s  feedings  will  be  boiled. 

Lesson  16 

MILK— WHERE  IT  COMES  FROM  AND 
WHERE  TO  BUY  IT 

Did  you  ever  stop  to  think  of  the  long  journey  that 
milk  travels  from  the  cow  in  the  country  to  the  little  baby 
in  your  home?  The  little  baby  that  lives  on  the  farm  does 
not  have  to  wait  very  long  for  his  milk.  His  father  or 
mother  milks  the  cow  and  as  soon  as  the  milk  has  been 
cooled,  which  takes  but  a short  time,  his  day’s  feedings 
can  be  made  up,  and  he  gets  a bottle  of  milk  which  is 
really  fresh.  This  is  one  of  the  reasons  why  the  country 
baby  is  usually  so  much  healthier  than  the  city  baby.  But 
even  the  country  baby  can  be  made  sick  by  milk  if  it  comes 

58 


from  a sick  cow,  or  if  the  cow  is  very  dirty  and  the  farmer 
does  not  clean  the  cow  and  wash  his  hands  before  he  milks, 
or  if  the  milk  is  put  into  a dirty  bucket  and  not  kept  in  a 
clean,  cool  place  until  the  baby  gets  it. 

But  what  about  the  city  baby?  Well,  this  is  what  hap- 
pens to  most  of  the  milk  before  the  city  baby  gets  it.  It  is 
milked  on  farms,  most  of  which  are  more  than  50  miles 
from  the  city.  Very  many  of  these  farms  have  stables  that 
are  dirty  and  cows  that  are  dirty.  The  cows  are  often 
milked  by  people  who  are  very  dirty  and  the  buckets  in 
which  the  milk  is  collected,  and  the  cans  into  which  the 
milk  is  poured  are  often  very  carelessly  washed  and  kept 
between  milkings.  They  are  often  placed  where  flies  and 
dust  are  thick.  The  cows  are  milked  in  the  late  afternoon 
and  again  in  the  early  morning,  usually  from  4 to  6 o’clock. 
The  milk  from  these  two  milkings  is  then  hauled  by  the 
farmer  in  an  open  wagon  to  what  is  called  a “receiving 
station,”  near  the  railroad,  where  it  is  kept  for  some  hours, 
sometimes  over  night,  until  the  milk  train  comes.  From  the 
receiving  station  it  is  hauled  to  the  open  railroad  platform, 
where  it  sometimes  waits  several  hours  before  it  is  put  on 
the  train.  When  on  the  wagon  going  to  the  receiving  sta- 
tion and  while  on  the  platform  waiting  for  the  train,  the 
sun  beats  down  on  it  in  summer  and  makes  it  so  hot  that 
it  spoils;  or  it  gets  frozen  in  winter,  which  is  not  good  for  it. 

When  the  train  comes  along  it  is  put  into  very  good 
cars,  which  have  ice  in  them  to  keep  the  milk  cold,  and 
starts  on  its  long  journey  to  the  city.  When  it  reaches  the 
city,  it  is  put  on  another  railroad  platform  until  the  city 
milkman  gets  it  and  carts  it  off  to  his  milk  shop,  where  he 
gets  it  ready  to  send  to  the  babies’  homes. 

Most  of  the  milk  that  comes  to  the  city  is  so  dirty  and 
dangerous  because  of  the  careless  way  in  which  it  has  been 
handled,  the  Health  Department  makes  the  milk  dealer 
strain  the  milk  through  cotton  or  cheesecloth,  or  both,  to 
get  out  the  dirt,  and  then  to  heat  the  milk — this  is  called 
pasteurization — long  enough  to  kill  the  germs  that  are  in  it. 


59 


It  is  then  put  in  bottles,  which  must  be  clean,  after  which 
it  is  ready  to  go  to  the  babies’  homes. 

In  most  of  the  shops  where  milk  is  pasteurized  it  has 
to  go  through  a lot  of  pipes,  pumps  and  other  machines  on 
its  way  from  the  strainer  to  the  bottle.  If  all  this  machinery 
is  clean  and  the  milk  is  heated  in  the  right  way,  and  the 
bottles  are  properly  cleaned,  the  milk  will  be  safe  to  use 
when  it  reaches  the  bottle.  After  it  is  bottled,  the  milkman 
has  to  keep  it  until  the  next  day  before  putting  it  in  his 
milk  wagon  to  take  to  your  house  or  to  the  little  milk  shop 
on  the  street  corner.  Think  what  a long  and  dangerous 
journey  this  is — the  milk  goes  from  the  cow  to  the  bucket; 
from  the  bucket  to  the  can;  then  the  can  goes  to  the  wagon; 
the  wagon  to  the  receiving  station,  where  the  milk  is  un- 
loaded and  rests  for  a while;  then  the  can  is  loaded  on 
another  wagon  and  goes  to  the  railroad  station  to  be 
unloaded  again;  then  it  is  put  on  the  railroad  train,  travels 
to  the  city,  is  again  unloaded  at  the  city  station,  where  it  is 
put  on  the  milk  man’s  wagon  and  hauled  to  his  milk  shop, 
where  it  is  unloaded.  The  milk  is  then  poured  out  of  the 
can  into  a tank;  from  there  it  goes  through  the  strainer, 
the  pumps,  pipes,  pasteurizer  and  bottling  machine,  into  the 
bottle.  Then  after  resting  a day,  the  bottled  milk  is  given 
a ride  from  the  milk  shop  to  your  home.  Is  it  any  wonder 
that  milk  is  dirty  and  that  it  so  often  makes  babies  sick? 
Think  how  many  people  have  to  handle  it  and  how  few  of 
them  are  really  clean. 

Not  all  of  the  milk  is  handled  in  this  way.  Some  of 
it  is  never  heated  to  kill  the  germs.  A little  of  it  is  hauled 
into  the  city  on  wagons  from  near-by  farms  and  peddled 
from  the  wagon.  This  milk  is  very  dangerous  because  it  is 
handled  by  farmers  who  have  very  little  money,  and  they 
cannot  pay  enough  workmen  to  keep  their  cows  and  stables 
and  buckets  and  cans  clean.  Dirt  and  germs  get  into  this 
milk  and  the  milk  is  not  heated  to  kill  the  germs. 

Then  some  milk  is  sent  to  small  grocery  stores  and 
other  small  shops  where  it  is  sold  in  bottles  or  dipped  from 

60 


1 


cans.  Never  buy  milk  from  such  places  as  these,  and  above 
all  things,  never  buy  milk  that  is  dipped  out  of  cans.  This 
is  the  dirtiest  and  most  dangerous  milk  of  all.  Most  of  the 
people  running  these  shops  do  not  know  how  to  keep  milk; 
their  shops  are  dirty,  and  whenever  any  one  comes  in  with 
a pitcher  or  jar  to  buy  some  milk,  the  milk  can  is  opened, 
the  pitcher  or  jar  is  held  over  the  can  and  filled.  It  doesn’t 
make  any  difference  whether  they  are  clean  or  dirty,  or 
whether  they  come  from  a house  where  there  is  scarlet 
fever  or  diphtheria  or  not;  whatever  milk  runs  down  over 
the  dirty  hands  or  the  side  of  the  pitcher  when  it  is  being 
filled  drops  back  into  the  milk  can.  When  you  stop  to  think 
about  it,  I am  sure  you  would  not  want  to  drink  this  milk 
or  have  the  baby  in  your  house  drink  it. 

The  Board  of  Health  of  the  state  and  the  office  in  the 
state  that  looks  after  the  cows  and  the  dairy  farms  and 
the  Board  of  Health  in  the  city  have  been  trying  for  years 
to  keep  track  of  all  the  people  who  handle  milk,  to  see  that 
they  keep  everything  and  every  person  that  touches  milk 
clean;  but  they  have  found  this  so  hard  to  do  that  they 
will  have  all  the  milk  heated — pasteurized — so  that  it  will 
not  make  babies  sick. 

Now  since  you  know  that  dirty  unheated  milk  is 
dangerous,  you  must  see  that  you  get  clean  milk  in  your 
home.  How  are  you  going  to  do  it?  The  first  thing  is 
to  find  out  where  you  buy  your  milk,  then  go  to  the  place 
you  buy  it  and  see  if  the  place  is  clean.  If  it  is  a grocery 
shop  or  a small  shop  of  any  kind,  tell  your  mother  that 
that  is  not  a good  place  to  buy  milk.  It  costs  just  as  much 
as  milk  from  a good  milkman  and  it  is  not  as  well  cared 
for,  and  it  is  very  often  not  as  fresh  as  you  can  get  from 
a real  milkman.  If  you  are  buying  milk  dipped  from  a can, 
you  know  enough  from  what  you  have  just  been  told  not 
to  want  it.  Buy  bottled  milk,  but  be  sure  to  visit  the  place 
j^ou  buy  it  from,  see  that  the  place  is  very  clean,  see 
whether  the  man  who  runs  the  place  is  clean,  whether  the 
bottles  look  clean,  whether  his  wagons  and  the  men  who 

61 


drive  the  wagons  are  clean,  and  find  out  whether  the  milk 
is  pasteurized  (heated) . 

There  are  some  very  clean,  careful  milk  dealers  in  all 
parts  of  the  city.  The  milkman  who  has  a new,  clean  place, 
with  new,  clean  machinery  far  straining,  pasteurizing  and 
bottling  the  milk  and  watching  the  milk  bottles,  is  the  man 
you  want  to  buy  your  milk  from.  The  good  milkman  will 
be  very  glad  to  tell  you  about  his  place.  When  you  are 
in  the  street,  keep  a lookout  for  clean  milk  wagons,  and 
when  you  see  one,  read  the  name  on  it,  and  go  and  visit 
his  shop.  It  doesn’t  cost  a cent  more  to  buy  milk  from  the 
clean,  careful  man  than  to  buy  it  from  the  dirty,  careless 
one  and  it  may  save  your  little  baby  brother’s  or  sister’s 
life. 

Find  out  all  you  can  about  your  milkman  and  his 
milk — what  is  his  name,  where  is  his  milk  shop,  does  he 
keep  it  clean,  does  he  have  a clean  wagon,  are  the  milk 
jars  clean  when  they  come  in  your  house,  are  there  any 
black  specks  to  be  seen  when  you  look  up  through  the 
bottom  of  the  bottle,  is  the  milk  ever  sour  when  it  is  deliv- 
ered? Find  out  all  these  things. 

Then,  too,  find  out  how  you  keep  the  milk  in  your  own 
home.  When  does  it  come  to  your  house,  what  is  done 
with  it  as  soon  as  it  comes,  how  is  it  kept  from  spoiling? 
Answer  these  questions  and  then  you  will  be  told  how  you 
ought  to  take  care  of  milk.  Milk  often  spoils  from  careless 
handling  at  home,  and  the  poor  milkman  gets  the  blame  for 
something  the  home  ought  to  be  blamed  for.  Remember 
that  you  are  being  prepared  to  keep  a dear  little  baby  well 
during  the  hot  summer,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  year,  and 
nothing  is  so  sure  to  help  you  do  this  as  clean  milk  kept 
clean  in  your  home. 


62 


Lesson  17 

CARE  OF  MILK  IN  THE  HOME 

Nothing  is  so  sure  to  help  you  keep  a baby  well  as 
clean  milk,  well  kept  in  your  home. 

Do  not  forget  that  milk,  to  be  a safe  food  for  the 
baby,  must  be  absolutely  pure — that  is,  clean,  and  free  from 
disease  germs.  A little  while  after  the  milkman  has  de- 
livered your  milk,  hold  up  the  bottle  and  look  at  the  bottom 
to  see  if  there  is  any  dirt  there.  If  you  see  any  particles 
of  dirt  in  the  bottom  of  the  bottle,  it  means  that  the  milk 
contains  large  numbers  of  germs,  so  take  it  back  to  the 
milkman,  as  it  is  unfit  for  use.  If  this  occurs  a second  time 
change  your  milkman. 

What  every  “little  mother”  must  remember  about  the 
care  of  milk  in  the  home  may  be  said  in  three  words  each 
beginning  with  the  letter  “C.”  These  may  be  called  the  three 
“C’s,”  clean,  cold  and  covered.  By  clean,  is  meant  the 
boiling  of  every  utensil  which  the  milk  will  touch.  By  cold, 
is  meant  keeping  the  milk  on  ice  in  an  absolutely  clean  ice 
box.  By  covered,  is  meant  putting  a cover  over  the  top  of 
the  bottles  so  that  no  dust  or  flies  can  get  in  the  milk. 

Do  not  allow  the  milkman  to  leave  the  milk  on  the 
doorstep  to  become  warm  and  be  exposed  to  animals  and  to 
street  dust,  but  have  the  milkman  ring  the  door  bell,  take 
the  milk  from  him  and  place  it  immediately  on  ice.  If  the 
milk  is  delivered  too  early  in  the  morning  for  you  to 
receive  it  yourself,  you  should  provide  a place  for  the  milk- 
man to  put  it,  such  as  a box  with  a cover,  so  that  it  will  be 
protected  from  flies  and  stray  dogs  and  cats.  Be  sure  never 
to  allow  the  milk  to  stand  in  the  sun. 

Germs  which  sicken  and  kill  babies  grow  rapidly  in 
milk  unless  it  is  kept  very  cold.  Feel  the  milk  bottles  when 
it  comes  in  the  morning  and  if  it  is  warm  tell  the  milkman 
he  must  leave  you  cold  milk.  Remember  milk  must  be  kept 
on  ice  as  even  the  best  milk  wilt  sour  in  a few  hours  if 
warm.  Never  let  it  stand  on  the  kitchen  table. 

63 


Milk  for  the  baby  can  be  kept  cold  for  as  small  a sum 
as  three  cents’  worth  of  ice  a day  by  the  use  of  a home- 
made refrigerator.  A home-made  refrigerator  can  be  made 
by  any  one  for  less  than  35  cents. 

To  make  a home-made  refrigerator,  buy  at  the  grocery 
store  an  empty  biscuit  can  9]/2  inches  high  and  12  inches 
wide.  Buy  also  a tin  bucket  just  a little  smaller  than  the 
biscuit  can  so  that  it  will  fit  inside.  The  small  bucket  might 
be  8j/2  inches  high  and  7]/2  inches  wide.  A wooden  box 
16  inches  square  and  some  sawdust  complete  the  materials 
for  the  ice  chest.  Place  a layer  of  sawdust  in  the  bottom 
of  the  box  and  then  put  the  large  tin  in  the  box,  filling  in 
around  the  tin  with  sawdust  up  to  the  top  of  the  tin.  The 
wooden  lid  of  the  box  may  be  fastened  to  the  box  by  tack- 
ing on  two  small  strips  of  leather  for  hinges.  To  the  under 
surface  of  the  wooden  lid  tack  seven  layers  of  newspaper. 
Place  the  small  tin  bucket  inside  the  large  biscuit  can,  and 
in  this  put  the  ice  and  feeding  bottles.  This  bucket  will 
hold  all  the  feeding  bottles  necessary  for  one  day. 

If  you  use  a regular  ice  chest  and  the  outlet  for  melted 
ice  is  kept  open,  see  that  the  space  under  the  ice  rack  is 
kept  clean.  The  refrigerator  must  be  kept  clean  if  you 
wish  to  keep  your  baby  well.  An  ice  chest,  especially  one 
in  which  other  food  is  kept,  should  be  scalded  at  least  once 
each  week  with  a washing  soda  solution. 

A drop  or  two  of  spilled  milk  or  a small  particle  of 
spoiled  food  will  contaminate  a refrigerator  very  quickly, 
and  the  milk  kept  in  such  an  ice  chest  will  have  an  un- 
pleasant taste.  It  is  best  not  to  keep  milk  in  the  same 
compartment  of  the  refrigerator  with  other  kinds  of  food, 
as  milk  takes  up  odors  as  well  as  germs. 

Always  wash  your  hands  before  handling  any  vessel 
containing  milk  or  intended  to  contain  milk. 

After  you  have  poured  out  any  milk  from  the  bottle, 
carefully  replace  the  cap,  or  if  you  have  broken  the  cap, 
place  an  inverted  tumbler  over  the  top  of  the  bottle.  Never, 
under  any  circumstances,  put  an  open  milk  bottle  in  the 

64 


refrigerator,  for,  if  you  do,  the  milk  will  become  contam- 
inated. 

Do  not  pour  any  milk  out  of  the  milk  bottle  until  you 
are  ready  to  use  it  immediately,  and  never  pour  out  more 
than  you  will  actually  use,  because  if  you  pour  any  milk 
back  again  in  the  milk  bottle  after  it  has  been  exposed  to 
the  air,  you  will  spoil  all  the  rest  of  the  milk  in  the  bottle. 

Never  let  an  empty  bottle  stand  unwashed,  but  as  soon 
as  it  is  emptied,  rinse  it  at  once  in  cold  water  and  then 
thoroughly  wash  it  with  soap  and  hot  water  and  scald  it 
with  boiling  water.  It  should  be  turned  upside  down  and  left 
in  a clean  place  preferably  in  a clean  box  with  a lid  until 
it  is  called  for  the  next  morning  by  the  milkman.  “Little 
mothers”  must  remember,  under  no  circumstances,  to  use 
the  milk  bottle  for  any  other  purpose  than  for  milk.  It  is 
wicked  to  put  anything  else  than  milk  in  a milk  bottle. 

If  you  send  back  a dirty  bottle  to  the  milkman  it  may 
come  back  to  you  the  next  day  or  go  to  some  poor  little 
baby  without  having  been  cleansed.  The  milk  in  such  a 
bottle  will  contain  millions  of  germs,  due  to  the  dirt  you 
left  in  the  bottle. 

Never  let  any  one,  whether  they  are  sick  or  well,  drink 
directly  from  the  bottle  of  milk,  it  is  not  only  a very  nasty 
thing  to  do,  but  it  is  a way  in  which  disease  is  carried  from 
one  person  to  another.  Never  drink  milk  more  than  24 
hours  old,  even  though  it  seems  to  be  sweet,  and  certainly 
never  give  such  milk  to  a baby.  It  can  be  unfit  for  use 
even  before  it  actually  sours. 

When  there  is  a contagious  disease  in  your  home,  you 
must  not  give  the  empty  milk  bottles  back  to  the  milkman 
until  the  Bureau  of  Health  calls  and  disinfects  the  bottles. 
You  can  help  a great  deal  in  preventing  the  spread  of  dis- 
eases by  never  taking  the  original  milk  bottle  into  the  sick 
room,  but  pour  out  the  amount  needed  into  a glass,  and 
only  take  the  glass  of  milk  into  the  sick  room. 

Remember  how  important  it  is  at  all  times  to  keep 
the  milk  covered  so  as  to  keep  out  dust  and  insects,  espe- 

65 


dally  the  dangerous  and  disease-spreading  fly.  If  a fly  gets 
into  the  milk,  never  give  that  milk  to  the  baby,  as  flies 
carry  millions  of  disease  germs  on  their  feet  and  legs. 
Many  cases  of  summer  complaint  are  due  to  milk  that 
becomes  dangerous  and  unfit  for  use  after  the  milkman  has 
left  the  milk  at  the  home.  Impure  milk  is  one  of  the  most 
common  causes  of  summer  complaint.  By  impure  milk  is 
meant  milk  which  has  been  allowed  to  become  warm;  or 
that  has  been  left  uncovered  so  that  dust  or  flies  get  into  it; 
or  milk  which  has  been  put  in  vessels  which  have  not  been 
scalded. 

Many  times  the  milkman  is  unjustly  blamed  after 
having  left  clean,  safe  milk,  which  became  spoiled  through 
lack  of  proper  care  in  the  home,  and  gave  the  baby  summer 
complaint. 

Please  do  not  forget  that  the  reason  you  must  be  so 
particular  about  caring  for  the  milk  in  your  home  is  that 
milk  is  not  only  the  only  proper  food  for  a bottle-fed  baby 
under  one  year  of  age,  but  that  it  is  one  of  the  most  easily 
spoiled  of  all  foods. 


Lesson  18 

THE  BABY’S  FOOD  DURING  THE  SECOND  YEAR 

The  subject  of  this  talk  is  “The  Baby’s  Food  During 
the  Second  Year.”  When  a baby  gets  to  be  from  nine 
months  to  one  year  old  his  natural  food — the  mother’s 
milk — is  apt  to  fail.  It  then  becomes  necessary  to  give 
him  a new  food.  Many  mothers  and  fathers  think  that  a 
year-old  baby  can  digest  almost  anything.  Therefore,  they 
bring  him  to  the  table  and  give  him  the  same  food  that  they 
eat  themselves.  This  is  a great  mistake  and  is  sure  to  end 
sooner  or  later  in  an  upset  stomach,  “summer  diarrhea”  or 
other  serious  illness.  Even  if  the  baby  lives,  it  means 
many  trips  to  the  doctor  or  hospital  and  a sickly  baby  for 
many  months  to  come.  This  dangerous  custom  is  the  chief 

66 


cause  of  the  many  baby  deaths  during  the  “second  sum- 
mer.” The  baby’s  stomach  and  bowels  can  be  kept  in  as 
good  condition  during  his  second  year  as  at  any  other  time, 
if  he  gets  the  right  kind  of  food. 

The  most  important  food  is  cow’s  milk — fresh  and 
clean.  Every  healthy  baby  of  one  year  that  has  been 
weaned  should  have  one  quart  of  good,  clean  cow’s  milk — 
in  four  feedings — every  day.  One  good-sized  slice  of  bread, 
well  baked,  one  day  old  and  dried  slowly  in  the  oven,  should 
be  given  with  the  milk.  Fresh  bread  should  never  be  given. 

After  fifteen  months  the  yolk  of  an  egg,  boiled  for  a 
couple  of  minutes,  should  be  given  three  times  a week; 
and  at  eighteen  months,  the  whole  egg — soft  boiled  or  soft 
poached. 

Cereals,  such  as  oatmeal,  cream  of  wheat,  wheatena, 
hominy  and  Pettijohn’s  food — if  thoroughly  cooked  for  two 
or  three  hours — may  be  given  to  the  healthy  child  by  the 
beginning  of  the  second  year.  Once  daily,  one  or  two  table- 
spoons, thoroughly  mixed  with  milk,  is  enough  to  start  with. 
For  the  mid-day  meal  give  a cup  of  broth  made  from  beef 
or  mutton,  veal  or  chicken. 

Water  must  be  drunk  freely  between  meals.  Orange 
juice  is  a valuable  food  and  is  some  times  given  after  the 
baby  is  a few  months  old.  Give  two  tablespoons  of  orange 
juice  and  a very  little  sugar  the  first  thing  in  the  morning, 
about  an  hour  before  the  first  morning  feeding  of  milk. 

When  eighteen  months  old,  potatoes  baked  and  mashed 
may  be  given  for  dinner  two  or  three  times  a week,  and  on 
other  days  a spoonful  of  well-boiled  rice.  But  these  vege- 
tables disagree  with  some  babies,  and  must  not  be  given  to 
the  exclusion  of  other  food. 

Very  little  meat  is  needed.  Meat,  even  if  it  is  very 
fine  and  scraped,  does  not  agree  with  many  children.  The 
best  form  of  meat  for  the  eighteen  months’  old  baby  is 
scraped  beef.  This  is  prepared  by  taking  a small  tender 
piece  of  beef  and,  with  a knife  held  vertically,  the  raw  meat 
is  scraped  until  a tablespoonful  of  the  raw  beef  pulp  is  se 

67 


lected.  The  pulp  is  molded  into  a cake  of  the  same  thick- 
ness at  the  edges  as  in  the  center.  The  little  meat  cake  is 
put  on  a frying  pan  or  “spider,”  as  it  is  often  called,  which 
is  held  over  the  fire  and  the  meat  cooked  a little  on  both 
sides.  It  must  not  be  cooked  much,  but  should  be  given 
rare. 

When  two  years  old,  a baby  may  be  given  any  of  the 
following  vegetables:  Very  well-cooked  spinach,  or  cauli- 

flower tops;  stewed  celery,  tender,  mashed  peas,  or  string 
beans.  One  of  these  can  be  given  with  dinner.  Fruit,  such 
as  prune  juice  or  the  soft  part  of  a baked  apple  may  be 
given  instead  of  the  orange,  or  one  of  the  following  des- 
serts: Plain  custard,  rice  pudding  or  junket. 

Here  is  a list  of  some  things  which  you  must  never 
give  a baby: 

No  ham,  pork  or  corned  beef. 

No  cabbage,  cucumbers  or  tomatoes. 

No  cakes,  pastry,  pretzels  or  candy. 

No  raw  apples,  bananas  or  watermelon. 

No  tea,  coffee,  soda  water  or  beer. 

Remember  when  you  hear  a mother  say  her  baby  is 
sick  because  it  is  “teething,”  she  is  usually  wrong — in  the 
great  majority  of  cases  the  baby  is  sick  because  it  is  not 
being  properly  fed — that  is,  it  is  being  fed  between  meals  or 
it  is  being  given  a taste  of  table  food.  Do  not  forget  that 
many  a precious  baby  has  been  killed  just  because  some 
one  gave  it  a taste  of  table  food. 


Lesson  19 
BAD  HABITS 

Babies  love  to  have  something  in  their  mouths  to  suck. 
This  is  natural  because  it  is  the  way  they  get  their  food. 
Usually  the  first  thing  that  goes  into  the  mouth  that  should 
not  is  the  finger  or  thumb,  and  unless  this  is  stopped  when 
the  baby  first  does  it,  he  will  get  so  used  to  it  that  it  will 

68 


be  very  hard  for  him  to  stop.  So  when  you  see  the  baby 
beginning  to  suck  his  thumb  or  finger,  just  keep  gently 
taking  it  out  of  his  mouth.  Usually  this  will  stop  the  habit, 
but  if  it  doesn’t,  pin  a small  sheet  about  his  shoulders, 
loosely  enough  to  let  him  move  his  arms,  but  tight  enough 
to  keep  him  from  getting  his  hands  to  his  mouth.  Try  this 
for  a few  days  and  then  watch  carefully  to  see  if  the  thumb 
sucking  has  stopped.  If  not,  put  the  sheet  on  a few  days 
more,  and  soon  the  baby  will  stop. 

Mothers  and  “little  mothers’’  sometimes  make  the  great 
mistake  of  putting  rubber  “pacifiers”  into  the  mouths  of 
babies  when  they  cry.  This  is  bad  for  the  baby  for  many 
reasons.  In  the  first  place,  sucking  on  a pacifier  makes 
the  baby’s  mouth  grow  out  of  shape.  In  the  second  place, 
pacifiers  are  very  dirty;  they  drop  on  the  floor  and  they 
touch  the  clothing  of  the  mother  or  “little  mother,’’  which 
has  been  worn  on  the  street,  in  the  street  cars,  or  in  the 
schools,  and  they  very  often  pick  up  diseases  in  this  way 
which  may  kill  them.  A pacifier  is  one  of  the  worst  things 
that  a baby  can  be  given,  and  they  should  never  be  allowed 
in  the  house.  I am  sure  that  none  of  you  would  want  to 
put  pacifiers  after  they  had  been  on  the  floor,  and  through  a 
lot  of  the  people’s  hands,  and  were  covered  with  dust  and 
dirt  from  the  floor,  into  your  own  mouths.  You  should  not 
let  your  little  baby  brothers  and  sisters  do  what  you  would 
not  want  to  do  yourselves. 

So,  sucking  of  the  thumb  or  any  of  the  things  that 
babies  are  given  to  suck,  should  be  stopped. 

Giving  the  baby  your  finger  to  suck,  of  course,  you 
would  never  do,  since  you  know  how  bad  it  is  for  the  baby 
to  suck  his  own,  and  yours  would  not  be  as  clean  as  his. 

Did  you  ever  know  that  it  is  very  bad  to  kiss  a baby? 
But  it  is  very  hard  not  to  do  so,  because  they  are  such 
sweet  little  things.  The  doctors  have  found  out  that  people 
who  are  perfectly  well  may  carry  in  their  mouths,  the  things 
that  cause  disease,  and  that  they  can  give  that  disease  to 
other  people  by  kissing  them  or  coughing  in  their  faces. 

69 


Any  of  you  girls  might  give  your  little  baby  brother  or 
sister  diseases  like  diphtheria  or  scarlet  fever,  even  if  you 
did  not  have  them  yourselves,  just  by  kissing  them.  So 
kissing  little  babies  on  or  near  their  mouths  should  be 
stopped.  If  you  wish  to  kiss  them,  kiss  them  far  back 
on  their  cheeks  or  on  their  necks.  It  is  just  the  same  to  the 
baby,  and  it  may  save  him  from  some  disease. 

When  you  have  a cold  you  must  be  very  careful  not  to 
sneeze  or  cough  or  even  breathe  in  the  baby’s  face.  It  is 
always  best,  if  you  can,  to  get  your  mother  or  some  other 
good  person  to  care  for  him  when  you  have  a cold,  so  that 
you  can  keep  away  from  him  all  the  time  until  you  are 
well.  If  you  have  to  feed  him  or  carry  him  at  any  time,  tie 
a clean  cloth  over  your  mouth  until  you  have  finished,  so 
you  can’t  cough  or  sneeze  in  his  face. 

Sometimes  mothers  give  their  babies  soft  food  from 
the  fable.  That  is  bad  enough,  but  once  in  a while  a mother 
will  chew  food  to  make  it  soft  and  then  spit  it  out  and  feed 
it  to  the  baby.  That  is  one  of  the  dirtiest  and  most  dan- 
gerous things  that  can  be  done  to  a baby.  A doctor  told 
us  that  he  had  seen  a mother  who  was  getting  well  from 
pneumonia  feed  her  baby  that  way  and  kill  it  from  pneu- 
monia in  two  days. 

Do  you  know  what  beer  and  wine  do  to  grown-up 
men,  how  it  makes  them  drunk  and  often  cruel?  That  is 
because  beer  and  wines  are  poisons.  Men  sometimes  die 
within  a few  hours  from  too  much  drink,  and  many  little 
children  have  been  killed  by  wine  and  beer  that  mothers, 
who  knew  no  better,  have  given  them.  When  you  see  any 
one  giving  a baby  wine  or  beer,  tell  them  what  the  doctors 
have  told  us,  that  they  are  poisons;  that  many  babies  have 
been  killed  in  a few  hours  by  them,  and  many  more  have 
contracted  kidney  disease  and  have  died  in  a few  years. 

Tea  and  coffee  are  almost  as  bad,  because  they  make 
babies  so  nervous  that  they  become  thin  and  sickly.  The 
custom  of  giving  little  babies  sticks  of  candy  to  suck  is 
also  bad,  not  only  on  account  of  the  sucking,  but  because 


70 


the  sugar  in  the  candy  makes  the  baby  sick.  The  sugar 
used  in  candies  is  not  the  right  kind  of  sugar  for  very  little 
babies.  Their  stomachs  cannot  digest  it  well.  Babies 
should  never  be  fed  anything  to  keep  them  quiet. 

There  are  many  medicines  sold  in  the  drug  stores  which 
are  said  to  make  babies  sleep  and  to  keep  them  from  cry- 
ing. They  are  usually  called  soothing  syrups.  Soothing 
syrups  are  all  dangerous,  and  while  they  will  put  the  baby 
to  sleep,  sometimes  he  does  not  awaken.  They  are  the 
most  dangerous  things  that  can  be  given  a baby.  There  are 
not  nearly  as  many  of  them  as  there  used  to  be,  because  the 
U.  S.  Government  makes  the  people  who  make  them  print 
on  the  label  on  the  bottle  what  it  has  in  it,  and  many  of 
them  had  so  much  poison  that  the  makers  were  afraid  to 
put  it  on  the  labels,  and  so  they  have  stopped  making 
them.  So,  beware  of  sleeping  mixtures,  and  tell  every  one 
you  know  who  has  a little  baby,  how  dangerous  they  are. 

Lesson  20 

CONTAGIOUS  DISEASES 

This  talk  will  be  about  contagious  diseases  and  the 
best  way  to  keep  from  getting  them.  When  we  say  a dis- 
ease is  contagious,  we  mean  that  any  one  who  has  it  is 
likely  to  give  it  to  another  person.  The  danger  of  disease 
spreading  in  this  way  is  so  great  that  the  Board  of  Health 
tries  to  keep  people  from  going  into  houses  where  there 
is  a catching  disease.  They  put  signs  on  the  front  and  back 
doors  of  the  houses,  which  state  there  is  measles  or  diph- 
theria or  scarlet  fever  or  some  other  catching  disease  there, 
and  which  tell  people  who  come  to  those  houses,  not  to  go 
in.  When  the  disease  is  small-pox,  the  Board  of  Health 
sends  policemen  to  stand  by  the  doors  to  see  that  no  one 
goes  in  or  comes  out  of  the  house.  People  who  have  not 
been  vaccinated  are  sure  to  get  the  small-pox  if  they  go  in, 
and  people  who  come  out  may  give  the  disease  to  any  one 
they  meet,  and  in  that  way  spread  the  disease  all  over  the 


7i 


city.  All  of  you  children  have  been  vaccinated,  I hope,  and 
can  show  the  scar  on  your  arms.  All  people  should  be 
vaccinated  when  they  are  babies  and  again  when  they  are 
10  or  12  years  old.  You  can’t  get  small-pox  if  you  have 
been  well  vaccinated  twice.  The  rule  to  vaccinate  all  chil- 
dren who  go  to  public  schools  keeps  school  children  from 
getting  the  disease.  The  doctors  like  to  vaccinate  babies 
when  they  are  from  3 to  6 months  old,  if  they  are  strong 
and  well,  because  it  does  not  hurt  them  and  because  it  keeps 
them  from  getting  the  disease  for  a long  time  afterward. 
If  for  any  reason  the  baby  in  your  home  has  not  yet  been 
vaccinated,  you  ought  to  see  that  it  gets  a good  vaccination 
before  it  is  two  years  old.  The  Board  of  Health  will  send 
a doctor  to  vaccinate  any  one  who  asks  them,  or  you  can 
get  your  own  doctor  or  the  doctors  at  the  dispensaries  to 
do  it  for  you. 

Two  of  the  most  serious  diseases  which  the  baby  may 
catch  from  others  are  whooping  cough  and  measles.  Many 
babies  die  from  whooping  cough  every  year,  and  those  who 
get  well  from  the  disease  are  weak  and  thin  for  a long 
time.  The  best  way  to  keep  from  getting  whooping  cough 
is  to  keep  away  from  any  children  who  have  it.  Never 
visit  or  play  with  children  who  have  had  coughs  and  colds, 
and  never  take  the  baby  into  houses  where  there  are  sick 
children  who  are  coughing.  If  you  are  riding  on  a trolley 
car  and  any  child  on  the  car  has  a hard  attack  of  coughing 
and  gets  very  red  in  the  face,  the  best  thing  to  do  is  to  get 
off  the  trolley  car,  or  else  get  as  far  away  as  you  can  from 
the  sick  child.  It  is  against  the  rules  of  the  Board  of  Health 
for  any  one  who  has  a catching  disease  like  whooping  cough 
to  ride  on  street  cars. 

If  the  child  has  any  disease  he  must  be  kept  in  a room 
by  himself  and  cared  for  by  his  mother  or  by  a nurse,  and 
must  have  his  meals  away  from  the  others.  Otherwise  all 
the  other  children  in  the  family  are  likely  to  get  the  same 
trouble.  Another  good  rule  is  to  have  the  doctor  see  any 
baby  or  older  child  who  has  a troublesome  cough  that  has 


72 


lasted  two  weeks  or  longer.  If  a child  is  getting  whooping 
cough,  the  sooner  it  is  found  out  the  better. 

Another  very  dangerous  disease  is  measles,  especially 
for  babies;  and  every  “little  mother”  should  do  her  best 
to  keep  her  little  baby  brother  or  sister  from  getting  it. 
Babies  nursing  at  the  mother’s  breast  are  much  less  likely 
to  get  any  of  these  catching  diseases  than  the  bottle-fed 
baby.  This  is  one  good  reason  why  mothers  should  nurse 
their  children  as  long  as  they  possibly  can. 

Mothers  must  take  care  not  to  bring  the  baby  near  a 
place  where  there  is  a case  of  measles.  Some  mothers  are 
very  careless  and  carry  their  babies  about  in  their  arms  in 
street  cars  and  other  places,  even  when  they  are  covered 
with  measles.  They  say,  “Oh,  it’s  only  measles,”  as  if  it 
were  nothing  at  all.  No  excuse  can  be  made  for  people 
who  carry  this  disease  around  in  this  way  to  help  make  it 
spread.  The  trouble  is  they  don’t  know  how  many  babies 
are  killed  by  measles.  It  is  very  easy  to  get,  and  every- 
one having  it  should  be  put  to  bed  and  kept  there  apart 
from  the  rest  of  the  family,  in  a separate  room,  for  at  least 
two  weeks  after  the  rash  has  come  out.  Before  the  sick 
person  may  come  out  of  the  room  he  must  have  a good 
bath  with  soap  and  water,  being  sure  to  wash  the  hair,  too. 
The  bedding  and  clothing  and  everything  washable  in  the 
room,  including  the  floors  and  woodwork,  must  be  washed 
with  soap  and  water  and  the  room  disinfected  by  the  Board 
of  Health  before  they  are  used  by  any  one  else.  Don’t 
forget,  whenever  you  see  a rash  on  the  baby’s  skin  or  on 
your  own,  to  see  a doctor  immediately.  He  can  tell  you 
whether  this  trouble  is  measles  or  something  like  it. 

There  is  another  disease  called  “German  measles,” 
which  looks  very  much  like  measles,  and  it  is  very  catching, 
too,  because  it  does  not  make  the  baby  very  sick,  mothers 
are  apt  not  to  send  for  the  doctor,  and  after  a day  or  two 
they  will  let  the  child  run  out  again  in  the  street  and  play 
with  other  children.  So  the  disease  spreads  rapidly  just 
from  carelessness.  To  keep  a contagious  disease  from 


73 


spreading  to  all  in  the  house,  we  must  keep  the,  patient 
away  from  the  other  people  in  the  house,  except  an  attend- 
ant or  nurse,  or  the  mother.  If  the  mother  has  to  tend  the 
other  children  too,  she  must  cover  her  clothes  with  a gown 
or  sheet  and  her  hair  with  a clean  cloth  before  going  into 
the  sick  room,  and  she  must  wash  her  face  and  hands 
carefully  with  soap  and  water  as  soon  as  she  comes  out  and 
before  she  handles  anything  else,  because  the  germs  of  the 
disease  are  carried  about  on  the  hands  and  face  and  in  the 
nose  and  throat.  When  a child  becomes  ill  with  scarlet 
fever  or  diphtheria,  the  doctor  sends  him  off  to  the  Munici- 
pal Hospital  because  that  is  the  best  place  for  him.  Diph- 
theria is  a disease  in  which  the  person  who  has  it  must  be 
watched  by  a nurse  or  doctor  every  minute  to  see  that  his 
throat  does  not  stop  up.  The  doctors  and  nurses  in  the  hos- 
pitals watch  the  diphtheria  cases  all  the  time  and  this  is 
why  so  many  fewer  cases  die  in  the  hospital  than  would 
die  in  the  home.  Then  again,  if  the  person  with  diphtheria 
is  taken  to  the  hospital  the  disease  is  sure  not  to  spread 
to  the  other  people  in  the  home.  Diphtheria  cases  will 
always  get  well  if  the  doctor  sees  the  patient  in  the  first  few 
hours  of  his  illness.  Therefore,  the  moment  the  baby  or 
anybody  in  your  home  gets  any  kind  of  a sore  throat,  send 
for  the  doctor  at  once. 

The  most  dangerous  diseases  of  all  are  measles  and 
whooping  cough,  and  just  because  every  person  thinks  that 
they  are  simple  diseases  they  think  that  every  child  must 
have  them.  They  are  much  more  catching  than  scarlet 
fever  and  diphtheria,  and  the  Board  of  Health  cannot  take 
care  of  them  in  the  hospitals  as  they  can  of  the  cases 
of  diphtheria  and  scarlet  fever,  so  they  have  to  stay  at 
home. 

One  of  the  diseases  that  has  not  been  mentioned  is 
chicken-pox.  Chicken-pox  looks  very  much  like  small-pox, 
and  for  that  reason  the  Board  of  Health  is  anxious  to  know 
about  all  the  cases  of  chicken-pox,  so  that  they  can  be  sure 
it  is  not  a mild  case  of  small-pox.  It  sometimes  is  a dan- 


74 


gerous  disease  and  you  must  protect  yourselves  and  your 
little  brothers  and  sisters  against  it  just  in  the  same  way 
that  you  do  against  other  diseases. 

I suppose  you  know  what  mumps  is?  You  don’t  want 
your  little  brothers  or  sisters  to  suffer  in  any  way,  and  if 
you  are  careful  you  can  keep  them  from  getting  mumps. 
Even  if  you  have  mumps  in  the  house,  if  the  baby  is  kept 
entirely  away  from  those  who  have  it,  he  probably  will 
not  get  it. 


75 


